PASTEUR, Louis

Mémoire sur la Fermentation appelée lactique.

Paris: Victor Masson, 1858. First edition.

Pasteur's first paper on fermentation which contains most of the central theoretical and methodological features of his biological theory of fermentation, in particular the concept of fermentation as a product of the growth of yeast, the idea that air is source of microscopic yeasts and other micro-organisms, and the notion of specificity, in which each fermentation could be traced to a specific micro-organism. Pasteur was able to isolate, observe and propagate the yeast responsible for lactic fermentation, and to demonstrate that its activity was dependent on its environment. Pasteur's concept of fermentation as a biological process challenged the chemical theory of fermentation put forth by Liebig, which Pasteur was able to disprove with his experiments on alcoholic and acetic fermentation. Pasteur's paper was published almost simultaneously in the Annales de Chimie et de Physique and the Mémoires de la Societé des Sciences, de l'Agriculture et des Arts de Lille, 2nd Series, Vol. 5, 1858. A much abridged version appeared in the Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Vol. 45, 1857. Dibner: Heralds of Science, 198 (abridged version); Garrison-Morton 2472 ; Horblit/Grolier: One Hundred Books Famous in Science, 82 (abridged version); Norman 1653 (offprint).

In: Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Third Series, Vol. 52, pp. 404-418. 8vo: 222 x 140 mm. Contemporary half calf with gilt spine lettering, a little chipping to the upper part of spine, otherwise fine.