Louis Pasteur

The ideas here are retold from the historical record, drawn from the sources each event cites. Louis Pasteur never posted on Veritula. To report a mistake, email veritula@dennishackethal.com.

Chronicled events

1. 1862·​Pasteur’s Swan-Necked Flasks
   #5777

   Broth boiled in a flask with a long, bent neck stays free of life, though air reaches it, because the germs carried by the air’s dust settle in the bend. Tip the flask so that the broth touches the bend, and it soon teems with microbes. They come from germs, not from the broth.