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Redi's experiment
Redi conducted an experiment using jars of meat to challenge the idea of spontaneous generation. He set up three jars with different conditions – one completely open, one covered with gauze, and one sealed. Maggots only appeared in the open and gauze-covered jars, suggesting that flies were responsible for the maggots, not spontaneous generation. This experiment played a crucial role in changing how people understood the origin of living organisms. -
Needham’s rebuttal
Some folks didn't buy it. They said maybe the sealing wasn't perfect, and stuff from the air got in. Needham's experiments stirred up more debate about spontaneous generation. It took another scientist, Louis Pasteur, and some super careful experiments to finally settle the argument in favor of life coming from other life (biogenesis). -
Criticism from Spallanzani
He questioned if Needham sealed his jars properly because, according to Spallanzani, if the sealing wasn't airtight, things from the air could've messed up the results. Spallanzani did his own tests, making extra sure things were sealed up right, and surprise, no life showed up. So, he said, "Seal those jars better, and let's talk about it." This back-and-forth added more spice to the debate about spontaneous generation until Pasteur settled it later on. -
Pasteur puts spontaneous generation to rest
He boiled broth in swan-neck flasks, keeping the gunk out. Result was: No microorganisms appeared. Tilted the flasks to let in some gunk, and voila, life showed up. Pasteur shut down spontaneous generation, proving life comes from life. Mic drop.