Louis Pasteur: Hunting Killer Germs

Savagely bitten 14 times by a rabid dog, Joseph Meisteris sure to die in agony from rabies. His desperate mother brings him to Louis Pasteur's laboratory on July 6, 1885, and begs the famous French scientist to use his new rabies vaccine on the boy. This book helps to find out what happened to Joseph Meister and Pasteur.

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Can Louis Pasteur's dog vaccine save nine-year old Joseph Meister? Savagely bitten 14 times by a rabid dog, Joseph is sure to die in agony from rabies. His desperate mother brings him to Pasteur's laboratory on July 6, 1885, and begs the famous French scientist to use his new rabies vaccine on the boy. But the vaccine has been tested only on dogs. If it doesn't work and the boy dies, Pasteur could be arrested for murder. But if he doesn't use it, Joseph will die anyway. The rabies vaccine was the culmination of Pasteur's years of pioneering work on the Germ Theory of Disease.Today, everyone knows about germs, microscopic organisms that cause disease. But in Pasteur's time, most people, including doctors, either refused to believe that such tiny creatures could hurt us, or simply didn't believe they existed. Pasteur proved that germs are everywhere, even in the air we breathe. He showed how they spread and caused disease. And he developed vaccines against them - first, for chicken cholera and the anthrax that killed so many sheep and cows. Then he moved on to rabies: Pasteur wanted to use this vaccine first for animals and then adapt it for humans.
If he could make one vaccine work on humans, then others could be developed for other diseases. But now, he had a crisis on his hands.Find out what happened to Joseph Meister and Pasteur in this vivid story of a poor boy from a small village who became one of history's most renowned scientists. Using quotes from letters, diaries, newspapers, and journals of the time, author E.A.M. Jakav takes you along with Pasteur as he fights the ignorance and prejudices of the scientific community, tracks down deadly microbes, develops vaccines, and by "Curing 'Sick' Wines" and "SAving Diseases Silkworms" also single-handedly saves two of France's most important industries.