Louis Pasteur

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just like his favorite professor.
In 1847 he earned a doctorate at the Ecole Normale in Paris, with a focus on both physics and chemistry. Becoming an assistant to one of his teachers, he began research that led to a significant discovery. He found that a beam of polarized light was rotated to either the right or the left as it passed through a pure solution of naturally produced organic nutrients, whereas when polarized light was passed through a solution of artificially synthesized organic nutrients, no rotation took place. If bacteria or other microorganisms were placed in the latter solution, then after a while it would also rotate light to the right or left. From this, he concluded that organic molecules exist in one of two forms, "left-handed" or "right-handed" forms.
After spending several years researching and teaching at Dijon and Strasbourg, Pasteur moved in 1854 to the University of Lille, where he became the professor of chemistry and dean of ...

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and rotting never took place unless the microbes were present, but it was generally believed that the microbes were caused by the rotting, instead of the microbes themselves causing the rotting. To prove this to the scientific community, Pasteur had to do many experiments to prove that things do not spontaneously generate. To prove this, he, with the help of Professor Antonie-Jrme Balard, invented a flask with a long downward S-shape. He then did many experiments, and all proved him correct! The scientists were proven wrong, and it is now accepted as the truth that things cannot spontaneously generate. Even today, the same swan-necked flasks Pasteur used can be seen, ...

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