I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Finally Pasteur (2)

26. Finally Pasteur (2)

Hwangrip Academy, Faculty of Healing, Dean.

Fredolin Fischer.

He was flipping through the newly published papers in the journal. What kind of papers have come out this time to waste research funds like this?

The Faculty of Healing is large, but that doesn’t mean there are thousands of healing professors. If he wanted to, he could see them all himself.

At least as long as they don’t pile up. No matter how many there are, it would only be a few a day.

“Mr. Moritz. Have you seen this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The new professor has already published three papers. Microscopy, bacteria, and epidemic dysentery.”

“Ah. It’s a hot topic these days.”

“Is that so?”

“Do you remember the recommendation letter from the royal family? Some people call him a quack, while others say his skills are truly exceptional.”

“I’ll have to take another look. What’s your opinion on the papers? Are they good? Or just nonsense?”

“I think there are some gaps. Maybe a leap in logic. That’s how I see it. The content itself looks good.”

The dean of the Faculty of Healing handed the papers back.

“Disease-causing particles? This must have caused quite a stir among the fellow professors. Isn’t it wrong?”

“It seems to be a minority opinion. He claims to have proven it experimentally.”

“Oh, really.”

“I heard he also found a solution for epidemic dysentery? According to the documents sent by the lord of Lapis to the journal and the academy, that’s the case.”

A new professor, placed by someone from a high place, whose origins are unknown. New theories, new experiments, and the academic world’s burning interest.

“Interesting. I’ll have to go see him next time.”

“Please do.”

I should at least see the face of the professor who threw down the gauntlet to the academic world alone. Well, there’s a good chance the content is wrong.

Isn’t he a young professor who barely got his doctorate? Still, the dean thought his ambition was commendable.

Even so.

The academic world is not a place where connections or status matter. Even if he is a royal healer, if he wants to make a claim, he must present it experimentally.

“`

Pasteur, Pasteur, Pasteur.

I think many people are tired of hearing that name. I don’t blame them, but it’s not over yet.

The refutation of spontaneous generation, the proof of the germ theory, the method of pasteurizing milk, the principle of vaccines, the way to raise silkworms. This man has done so much.

It can’t be helped.

We’ll have to hear Pasteur’s name for another ten years, won’t we? Just look at history, Pasteur’s name is written on every milk carton.

“In fact, this experiment is also to show others. We know, right? We use that principle when using the culture medium.”

Istina sighed.

“This is really… difficult.”

“The experiment itself is simple.”

Still, the preparations are complete.

All that’s left is to run away with Pasteur’s experiments and papers. Borrowing some research, dear senior.

And then, the classroom.

Today’s class was prepared with some effort.

The classroom was bustling with undergraduates as usual. Today, there were no rude professors trying to take over someone else’s class.

Thank goodness. If the academic community of the academy knew what class I was going to teach today. My class would have been crowded again.

Two swan-neck flasks were placed next to the podium. They were quite large swan-neck flasks. Visible even from the back of the classroom.

I looked around the classroom.

“I think I mentioned it. How can we prove that mold and decay are caused by particles in the air, not by spontaneous generation or smell?”

Istina looked at me from the front row.

I’ve said it many times, but undergraduates need repetition to understand. More importantly, undergraduates need to reach the conclusion themselves. They need to understand the logical structure of the experiment.

“`

“First, we need to formulate the hypothesis in a falsifiable manner. What should we say?”

There was no answer.

“Mr. Oliver. Take a guess.”

“The decay of food occurs due to airborne particles, that is, contact with other organisms.”

“Good.”

I recorded Oliver’s words on the blackboard.

The chalk broke once.

“Now. This hypothesis goes against the conventional wisdom of society and academia. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so we need to design an experiment that is logically impeccable.”

“We can induce food decay in a controlled environment and compare the patterns.”

Istina nodded from the front row.

“We need to obtain uncontaminated samples and create samples exposed to airborne particles and those that are not.”

“It would be good to have an experimental group with active intervention from the researcher and a control group for comparison. If we elaborate here…”

I scanned the classroom again.

After a moment, Amy raised her hand.

“Yes, Miss Amy.”

“Uh, it would be good to separate sterilized food into a control group exposed to air and an experimental group not exposed to air!”

“Correct.”

The experiment design was complete. Sterilized food would be divided into a control group exposed to air and an experimental group not exposed to air to induce decay.

“The experiment design is done. Before we start the experiment, let’s review the assumptions used.”

“Assumptions?”

Istina scratched her head from the front row. However, these are things that are inevitably necessary for a successful experiment.

“First. This is the process of creating sterilized food. If we boil it and cast a purification spell, will that be enough to eliminate the bacteria?”

A brief murmur.

“Professor. Doesn’t that have no impact on the success or failure of the experiment? Should we consider it?”

As it could be evidence to refute my experiment, a student might be curious as to why I’m mentioning it now.

But that’s not how scientific methodology works.

“That’s true. The purpose of the experiment is to verify a falsifiable proposition. If we fear falsification, it would be difficult to do science, wouldn’t it?”

Assumptions need to be examined. The assumptions made in the experimental design do not correspond to falsifiable propositions in this experiment.

So, back to the point.

“Here, the assumption is that if we boil the meat soup and cast a purification spell, the particles will disappear. It makes logical sense, but it is still an assumption that needs to be verified.”

The classroom buzzed, and the sound of paper and pen movements rustled busily.

“Second. What is a way to prevent the movement of dust or particles in the air without blocking the movement of the air itself?”

Pasteur blocked the entrance of the swan-neck flask with water. This method allows air to pass through while preventing the movement of dust and particles in the air.

A hand went up at the back of the classroom.

“Water. Gases can pass through, but particles will be trapped in the water. That’s why you brought the swan-neck flask, isn’t it?”

A smart answer, not typical of an undergraduate.

“Very good- What are you doing there, teacher?”

“Attending the class.”

One of the royal healers, Violet.

Here she comes again.

“Teacher, I see you often these days. Miss Violet, don’t you have anything else to do?”

“No.”

Well… It’s more productive than sitting in the Imperial Palace infirmary playing poker. I let out a small sigh and resumed writing on the board.

“Anyway. The second assumption. We assumed that water would filter out particles while allowing gases to pass through.”

That’s right. It seems correct and it is correct, but it hasn’t been experimentally verified yet.

We need to address this.

“As you can see, we made two major assumptions in this experiment. Whether the experiment succeeds or fails, we need to keep this in mind.”

I put down the chalk and looked around the lecture hall. It was time to start the experiment.

It feels like we’ve been talking about this for days. There’s no need to explain it again. Performing the experiment itself only took a few minutes.

And… it’s done.

“We’ll see in a few days. If the sample exposed to air doesn’t decay and the sample not exposed to air does decay, then the hypothesis is proven. Only that among the four possible outcomes.”

The undergraduates nodded.

“That’s all for today’s class. Good job, everyone. Let’s see how the flasks are doing in the next class.”

Tap. I put down the chalk. The undergraduates slowly left the lecture hall as usual.

As always, I left the lecture hall with Istina. I hope the experiment goes well, but there’s no guarantee.

The meat broth we thought was sterilized might still have bacteria or contaminants, or the control group might not decay, resulting in no meaningful results.

In the end, it’s something we won’t know until we try. From the experiment I did before the class, the meat broth had fruit flies after about two days. Thanks to the fruit flies, there was hardly any mold.

“The experiment will go well, right?”

“There’s nothing certain.”

“Right, I heard they might publish the cholera paper? It seems the paper has been sent outside the academy too. Including the microscope paper.”

“That’s a relief.”