-
400 BCE
Aristotle's Theory
The principal of spontaneous generation came from Aristotle. He wrote, "The History of Animals" explaining the small animals that grew in the cells. He had a theory thinking that the animals reproduced spontaneously. -
Period: 400 BCE to
Spontaneous Generation
The principal of spontaneous generation came from Aristotle. He wrote, "The History of Animals" explaining the small animals that grew in the cells. He had a theory thinking that the animals reproduced spontaneously. -
The First Attack
The first attack of spontaneous generation happened in 1668 by Francesco Redi. He conducted an experiment to get a further understanding of spontaneous generation. He placed two jars with meat. One jar was opened and the other was covered with a cloth. Maggots started to spontaneously appear in the meat. However, Redi's theory was incorrect. What caused the maggots to appear were the eggs that were left by flies. -
John Needham
Later in 1745, John Needham wanted to challenge Redi's experiment. Therefore, he created and tested if organisms after boiling water would appear. Everyone thought that boiling water killed the organisms in water. Nevertheless, people were wrong. Needham realized that even after boiling, organisms still appeared in the water. -
Lazzaro Spallanzani
An Italian biologist, Lazzaro Spallanzani did not believe in Needham's theory since he thought that the organisms came from the air. He conducted the same experiment but sealing the air. His theory was correct as he found no organisms. -
Louis Pasteur
In 1859, Louis Pasteur finalized the discussion on spontaneous generation. He discovered that microorganisms are everywhere. including air. Later in a sponsored contest, Pasteur won his debate with his famous experiment, "Swan Neck Flask." The experiment showed that microorganisms would not spontaneously generate if he made it hard for the air to go into the flask and pollute.
