What happens
Louis Pasteur, a chemist in nineteenth-century France, fights to convince doctors and officials that invisible microbes cause disease. Nations are struck by anthrax among their cattle, and Pasteur develops a vaccine that protects animals. He is challenged by the Academy of Medicine to a public test with sheep, and his vaccinated animals survive. Later, Pasteur and his colleagues confront skepticism about rabies, and he treats a boy bitten by a rabid dog. Presented as part of the Academy Award Theater series, this 1946 radio dramatization stars Paul Muni, and the program was first broadcast on April 13, 1946. The story is recounted through Pasteur's scientific work and his struggles against established medical opinion.
France in the nineteenth century, including the royal court in Paris, the province of Arbois, and the Academy of Medicine.
Characters: Louis Pasteur, Marie, Dr. Charbonnet, Dr. Rossignol, Dr. Lister, Emperor
Listen for: Pasteur's challenge to the Academy of Medicine with the sheep test, and his decision to treat the boy bitten by a rabid dog.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.