Louis Pasteur

Pasteur’s ability to communicate both with other scientists, such as other Pasteurian laboratories, and everyday people, such as the farmers, lead to much of his success and influence. “No matter the size, cost, length, and width of the instruments they build, the final end product of all there inscription devices is always a written trace that makes the perceptive judgement of the other simpler” (Latour 161). Latour’s trying to saying that when it comes down to the key things that give a product or a person influence is if they are able to make the product description understandable. So, in Pasteur’s case he had to use the language that the farmers and other scientists would understand otherwise he would not have been able to describe what
He did convince the reader of this. He was able to show, with Pasteur as an example, the transition of laboratory science into the real world, where it had always been, but had never been visible before. Latour showed through example the influence Pasteur had in the lab and how he brought a ‘macro’ problem into a ‘micro’ setting and how the problem and the setting were not so different but were just different ways to approach the same problem. Pasteur’s influence was felt both in the laboratory but in the end, he had more influence outside the laboratory because of his ability to communicate his thoughts and ideas. Pasteur’s ability to communicate also lead to his increased political power, but not in the traditional sense of political power. In the end though Pasteur’s influence and political power blur together. It was the fact that he could communicate with everyone around him that gave him both influence and political power. The vaccine he created for anthrax was the first of many vaccines would be created. Pasteur’s influence and political power has extended for many generations outside the laboratory. As for the questions of where ‘micro’ starts and ‘macro’ end. Latour showed, using Pasteur that there is no beginning or end to these levels