Pasteur and the Germ Theory Breakthrough Flashcards

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Who was Louis Pasteur?

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist in the 1800s who studied germs and disease.

What problem first led Pasteur to study germs?

He was asked to find out why wine and beer turned sour, so he studied what caused this change.

In Pasteur’s work, what is meant by a “germ” or “microbe”?

It is a tiny living thing, too small to see without a microscope, that can cause decay or disease.

What is Pasteur’s Germ Theory?

It is the idea that tiny germs in the air cause decay and disease, instead of bad air or poison.

Which two old ideas about disease did Germ Theory challenge?

It challenged miasma (the belief that bad air caused disease) and spontaneous generation (the idea that germs made themselves from decay).

What was spontaneous generation?

It was the old belief that germs and maggots appeared by themselves from rotting matter, instead of coming from other living things.

How did Pasteur’s swan-neck flask experiment help prove Germ Theory?

He boiled broth in flasks with curved necks. Air could enter but dust could not, and no germs grew. When the neck was broken, germs grew. This showed germs came from the air.

In which year did Pasteur publish his Germ Theory?

He published his Germ Theory in 1861.

Why was Pasteur’s Germ Theory important for understanding disease?

It showed that specific germs cause specific diseases, so doctors could start to look for the exact microbe that made people ill.

Why were some doctors slow to accept Pasteur’s ideas at first?

Pasteur was a chemist, not a doctor, and many doctors still believed in miasma and did not want to change their ideas.

How did Pasteur’s Germ Theory help change medical treatment over time?

It encouraged cleaner hospitals, better hygiene and later helped scientists develop vaccines and other ways to fight germs.

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