Germ theory
Germ theory, in general is the theory and belief that foreign microorganisms also known as germs, too small to be seen by the naked eye except with the help of magnification. Are to blame for the cause of certain diseases, rather human or animal related as the result of these germs, successfully invading the body.
The beginning:
Germs, even though nowadays we all know they exist as fact and are seemingly floating around everywhere in the air. But that wasn't always the case indeed, especially during the days of Louis Pasteur during and before the 1800's. Between the years of 1857-1859, after recognizing the strange occurrences in the contamination of some of the liquids he was using for his experiments at the time. As these liquids either went bad for no reason when left unattended, or they simply became unusable. Pasteur became convinced that foreign microbes floating in the air, were to blame. He concluded that this could explain everything, from the cause of fermentation, to the cause of many known diseases already affecting humans up to that point. Thus leading to the Germ theory, but the only problem then was how he would prove it, to not only France, and Europe, but the entire world. Despite this feat Louis Pasteur stood true to his beliefs, standing up against those opposed to his new belief which was most of Europe, but all this would later pay off...
Opposing side/Theory:
Since this Germ theory suggested germs floating in the air were the cause of disease and because it was a relatively new idea during the 1800's. There had to already exist a more popular belief that would of had to suggested otherwise, as the Germ theory was not openly accepted at first. This was because most Europeans, and fellow french men of Louis Pasteur believed in Spontaneous Generation. The belief that disease was the cause of Organisms capable of appearing out of no where with the help of already existing in-animate objects.
Pasteur's Experiment: Refute SPONTANEOUS Generation
This simple Louis Pasteur experiment is perfect for teaching kids the basics of microbiology. The steps of his experiment are as follows:
- Louis Pasteur designed an experiment to test whether sterile nutrient broth could spontaneously generate microbial life. To do this, he set up two experiments. In both, Pasteur added nutrient broth to flasks, bent the necks of the flasks into S shapes, and then boiled the broth to kill any existing microbes.
- After the broth had been sterilized, Pasteur broke off the swan necks from the flasks in Experiment 1, exposing the nutrient broth within them to air from above. The flasks in Experiment 2 were left alone.
- Over time, dust particles from the air fell into the broken flasks of Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, dust particles remained near the tip of the swan necks, but could not travel against gravity into the flasks, keeping the nutrient broth sterile.
- The broth in the broken flasks quickly became cloudy–a sign that it teemed with microbial life. However, the broth in the unbroken flasks remained clear. Without the introduction of dust–on which microbes can travel–no life arose. Thus, the Louis Pasteur experiment refuted the notion of spontaneous generation (From: Pasteur Brewing.com "Louis Pasteur Experiment: Refute Spontaneous Generation").
Conclusions of Experiment: The Germ theory was victorious, as Louis Pasteur himself believed and proved. The only way the microbes could have possibly reached the nutrient broths presented in the flasks, was when the nutrient broths in the flask were intentionally exposed to the air, proving not only that microbes exist in the air. But that Spontaneous Generation is wrong.
After this experiment Louis Pasteur himself even states: "Never will the doctrine of spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow struck by this simple experiment"(1862).
Other Contributors: Although Louis Pasteur would become the main contributor to the acceptance of this Germ theory, he was not alone. There were two others, both who helped back up Pasteur through their own works and speculations.