Louis Pasteur

What were the believed causes of disease in the 19th century? 

- Miasma (bad air, poisonous fumes, decaying matter) 

- Contagion (being close to someone with a disease) 

- God (a punishment) 

- Spontaneous Generation (decay creates germs, germs appear as a result of disease - most recent theory) 

LOUIS PASTEUR 

- A french scientist 

- at this time, scientists strongly believed in spontaneous generation. 

- Louis Pasteur was employed in 1857 to find an explanation for the souring of suger beet used in fermenting industrial alcohol. His answer was to blame germs in the air. 

- He discovered that heating liquid killed bacteria and stopped the liquid going sour. 

- Pasteur proved there were germs…