BBLs are a series of weekly, informal talks by CHF fellows on their current research, and members of the academic and business communities on topics involving the history of chemistry, political and social issues of importance to chemists and chemical engineers, and issues affecting the future of chemical research.
John S. Ceccatti
“Vital Forces: Yeast, Fermentation, and the Practice of Brewing”
Although brewing is an ancient craft, the nature of fermentation remained an active area of scientific debate throughout the 19th century. Two leading figures of the discussion at mid-century—Justus Liebig and Louis Pasteur—clashed famously over the role of yeast in fermentation. Was it an inert chemical compound or a living organism, a vital force in a physiological process? Less well known is the role that brewers themselves played in this scientific debate. This lecture will explore how traditional brewing practices were transformed by new scientific theories and laboratory techniques concerning yeast and fermentation.
John S. Ceccatti is currently a Haas Fellow at the Chemical Heritage Foundation where he is writing a book on the relationship between traditional practices and laboratory techniques in the 19th-century brewing industry. He received his Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science, as well as an M.S. in molecular genetics, from the University of Chicago.
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