Unit Checkpoint: Life Stories

Louis Pasteur was a scientist who studied biology and chemistry. He was one of the most honored scientists in France.  He created the anthrax vaccine for animals. He invented a way of making milk safe, which bears his name Pasteurization. But the work he seemed most proud of was creating a treatment for rabies, a disease that haunted his childhood memories. He spent years studying and looking for clues as to the nature of the disease. He worked long hours in his lab studying rabid animals. He did not give up until he found a treatment that worked on animals, and then just as he was about to test it on himself he was begged to treat a young boy.  It took 14 days to treat the boy, but it worked and saved his life.

Doctor Elisabeth Blackwell was the first female to graduate from Medical School.  She was inspired as a girl by an outbreak of cholera on the ship her family emigrated to the United States on. She lived in a time when most women, regardless of social class did not receive an education. She applied to 29 medical schools, and was rejected by all but one. Her being accepted into Geneva Medical College was just the beginning of her struggles as she faced bullying by locals, fellow students, and the professors who did not think a woman could be a Doctor. She studied harder than what most people would be expected to study, and became the best in her class while behaving calm and friendly. And she succeeded in becoming the first female Doctor.

Sir Alexander Fleming was a scientist who studied bacteria. During a wet season in 1929 while growing bacteria in a Petri dish, a fleck of mold spore landed in the culture material. Because Sir Fleming had not noticed the tiny speck landing in the culture the sample was kept, and when he went back to work on the sample he was surprised to find the mold growth. Instead of through out the sample at that time, he decided to take a look.  This happy accident has changed the world and saved countless lives. By looking in the sample he saw that the bacteria stayed away from the mold.  This peaked his curious , and so he saved the mold sample in a vial of broth. He then returned to his normal work, and let the mold grow. When he was done with his normal work he was able to go back to the curiosity that was the mold. He tested it on many forms of bacteria, many of which were known to be deadly for humans.  Eventually the fluid produced in the culture by the mold was studied and tested against healthy cells, healthy animals, and sick animals.  This was the first antibiotic, Penicillin.

I admire them because they inspire me like when doctor Elisabeth Blackwell became a doctor or when Louis Pasteur cured the boy. Sir Alexander Fleming found mold growing the Petri dish.