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330 BCE
Aristotle
Originated the theory that organisms develop gradually from what was later found to be epigenetics - disproved spontaneous generation -
Zacharias Jansen
Made the first ever compound microscope, this made observing cells easy and practical - leading to the rejection of spontaneous generation -
Jan Baptist van Helmont
Performed first ever experiment to prove spontaneous generation - proved spontaneous generation to be true -
Robert Hooke
The first person to observe cells in an organism, also known as the father of the cell theory - this helped disprove the theory of spontaneous generation -
Francesco Redi
Performed experiment where it was proved that maggots in meat come from the larva of flies - this helped disprove the theory of spontaneous generation -
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
The first scientist who observed bacteria using a microscope - helped disprove spontaneous generation -
Robert Brown
Discovered the nucleus and its role in the cell - disproved spontaneous generation -
Matthias Jacob Schleiden
He observed that different parts of the plant organism are composed of cells. His specific observation was that lower plants all consisted of a single cell and all the higher ones consisted of many individual cells - proposing spontaneous generation as true -
Theodor Schwann
Extended to the cell theory of Matthias Jacob Schleiden but for animals - proposing spontaneous generation to be true -
Albrecht von Roelliker
Discovered that sperm and eggs are also classified as cells - helped lead to the rejection of spontaneous generation -
Lorenz Oken
Made the probable first statement of a cell theory - disproved the cell theory -
Rudolf Virchow
He pioneered what is known as pathological process and explained in his theory that disease arose not in organs/tissue, but in individual cells - this theory disproved spontaneous generation -
Louis Pasteur
First scientist to prove that cells for from pre-existing cells - disproved spontaneous generation
