The private science of Louis Pasteur / Gerald L. Geison.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Geison, Gerald L., 1943- author.

Series:

Princeton Legacy Library ; 306

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pasteur, Louis, 1822-1895.

Pasteur, Louis.

Scientists--France--Biography.

Scientists.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (417 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1995]

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

In The Private Science of Louis Pasteur, Gerald Geison has written a controversial biography that finally penetrates the secrecy that has surrounded much of this legendary scientist's laboratory work. Geison uses Pasteur's laboratory notebooks, made available only recently, and his published papers to present a rich and full account of some of the most famous episodes in the history of science and their darker sides--for example, Pasteur's rush to develop the rabies vaccine and the human risks his haste entailed. The discrepancies between the public record and the "private science" of Louis Pasteur tell us as much about the man as they do about the highly competitive and political world he learned to master. Although experimental ingenuity served Pasteur well, he also owed much of his success to the polemical virtuosity and political savvy that won him unprecedented financial support from the French state during the late nineteenth century. But a close look at his greatest achievements raises ethical issues. In the case of Pasteur's widely publicized anthrax vaccine, Geison reveals its initial defects and how Pasteur, in order to avoid embarrassment, secretly incorporated a rival colleague's findings to make his version of the vaccine work. Pasteur's premature decision to apply his rabies treatment to his first animal-bite victims raises even deeper questions and must be understood not only in terms of the ethics of human experimentation and scientific method, but also in light of Pasteur's shift from a biological theory of immunity to a chemical theory--similar to ones he had often disparaged when advanced by his competitors. Through his vivid reconstruction of the professional rivalries as well as the national adulation that surrounded Pasteur, Geison places him in his wider cultural context. In giving Pasteur the close scrutiny his fame and achievements deserve, Geison's book offers compelling reading for anyone interested in the social and ethical dimensions of science. Originally published in 1995.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables

Preface

PART I. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Chapter One. Laboratory Notebooks and the Private Science of Louis Pasteur

Chapter Two. Pasteur in Brief

PART II. FROM CRYSTALS TO LIFE

Chapter Three. The Emergence of a Scientist The Discovery of Optical Isomers in the Tartrates

Chapter Four. From Crystals to Life Optical Activity, Fermentation, and Life

Chapter Five. Creating Life in Nineteenth-Century France Science, Politics, and Religion in the Pasteur- Pouchet Debate over Spontaneous Generation

PART III. VACCINES, ETHICS, AND SCIENTIFIC VS. MEDICAL MENTALITIES: ANTHRAX AND RABIES

Chapter Six. The Secret of Pouilly-le-Fort Competition and Deception in the Race for the Anthrax Vaccine

Chapter Seven. From Boyhood Encounter to "Private Patients" Pasteur and Rabies before the Vaccine

Chapter Eight. Public Triumphs and Forgotten Critics The Debate over Pasteur's Early Use of Rabies Vaccines in Human Cases

Chapter Nine. Private Doubts and Ethical Dilemmas Pasteur, Roux, and the Early Human Trials of Pasteur's Rabies Vaccine

PART IV. THE PASTORIAN MYTH

Chapter Ten. The Myth of Pasteur

Appendixes

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix Q

Appendix H

Appendix I

Appendix J

Appendix K

Author's Note on Notes and Sources

Notes

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (pages [345]-366) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691604978

0691604975

9780691633978

0691633975

9780691015521

069101552X

9781400864089

1400864089

OCLC:

889252696