Louis Pasteur, National Library of Medicine
	In France in the 1870’s, Louis Pasteur was continuing the studies that became the basis for bacteriology.  Pasteur changed the world with his elegant proofs for the germ theory of disease. He developed practical applications including the pasteurization treatment of food products, vaccination to prevent anthrax, and the dramatically successful rabies vaccine: these saved many lives. In 1878, he published “The Germ Theory and Its Applications to Medicine and Surgery” bringing the science of bacteriology to bear on disease prevention.