1864

Pasteur’s lecture at the Sorbonne capping his debate with Felix-Archimede Pouchet over spontaneous generation. He emphasized role of contaminated mercury as source of error in Pouchet’s experiments allegedly demonstrating spontaneous generation (Geison, 119) and rehearsed his famous experiments in which yeast-water was prevented from alteration by denying the access of any atmospheric dusts (120), Ironically, in early 1850s, Pasteur himself attempted to discover experimentally the “cosmic asymmetric force” that was ultimately responsible for life (138-42).