Louis Pasteur and his miraculous bacteria.

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Louis Pasteur and his miraculous bacteria.

The great French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur who managed to create such necessary vaccinations as rabies vaccinations and anthrax vaccinations in spite of the fact that didn’t have neither medical nor biological education. Nonetheless, fortunately, the lack of diploma never prevented the great scientist from saving humans lives.

Still, there was an accident when Louis Pasteur in order to save a human life had to count not on his knowledge or experience, but on keenness of wit and slyness.

Louis Pasteur was in fact a man totally devoted to science and medicine, therefore he wasn’t an excellent marksman. It’s one thing to be an expert in the culture of smallpox bacteria, and absolutely another thing to shoot away for nothing. The lack of the shooting skill was dictated at that time by rules of behaviour. Thus, an impudent and ill-mannered man could always be challenged to a duel. Louis Pasteur knew it perfectly well, that’s why he was notable for his quite calm and complaisant character. He was actually easy to deal with and nice to talk to. The scientist just didn’t want to tempt fate.

Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that he tried his best to handle with care everything he said or did, he didn’t manage to escape accusations in insulting. One day, when the French chemist was all preoccupied in working on a new researches which consisted in examining the culture of smallpox causative agent, some stranger rushed into his laboratory and claimed that he was a second of a nobleman. After that he explained to a very embarrassed and confused scientist that he once insulted the honour and dignity of a very significant person and now this person wanted to call him out to a duel.

Nobody knew if it was some kind of a stupid mistake or misunderstanding, maybe the scientist had been mistaken for some other man or maybe he really had insulted some nobleman. But the bitter truth was that there appeared a hard task for the scientist – he needed to win in the duel so that he could ,after all, make his great discoveries to the pleasure of his descendants. But how one could fight in a duel if he didn’t know how to shoot? Thus the chemists made quite a cunning plan. He claimed to the second that he had the right to chose weapons since he was the one who had been challenged. And so, without any seconds thought, he chooses …a test tube duel!

He explained to the second (who didn’t understand what was going on) that he would offer two test tubes to the nobleman. One of these test tubes would contain smallpox bacteria. The second one would be filled with plain pure water. The accuser had to drink the contents of the tube he’d chosen, and after that Luis had to empty the left one without thinking twice.

Fortunately, duel rules allowed the accuser to call off his claims. Of course, after hearing the scientist’s suggestions, he hurried to avail himself of the lawful right to call off the duel. Thus the microbiologist’s family, close relatives, and other millions of people who got such sacred vaccinations (those that Louis Pasteur would invent some time later) , could live long and happy lives. So the test tube which contained a dreadful disease saved the life of Louis Pasteur in such a wonderful way.