Final answer:
Louis Pasteur is credited with the discovery that heat-resistant microbes were endospores, contributing significantly to the field of microbiology and germ theory of disease. C is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The individual who discovered that heat-resistant microbes were endospores is none other than Louis Pasteur.
Louis Pasteur's pioneering contributions to microbiology include the disproval of spontaneous generation, the development of pasteurization, and the creation of vaccines against diseases such as anthrax.
His work, along with that of Robert Koch, who formulated Koch's postulates, greatly substantiated the germ theory of disease. Therefore, the correct option in the context of microbes.