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1 CE
Long ago until late 1800s
Many believed simple life forms could just pop up from nowhere.
No microscopes, so people thought they saw life appearing on its own.
Also, matched with religious beliefs of the time. -
Scorpion recipe
Recipe claimed you could make scorpions from basil and sunlight.
Maybe the person lied or hid scorpion eggs in the basil. -
Redi's Experiment
Around 1668, a guy named Redi wanted to show that maggots didn't just appear in rotting meat. He tested different ways meat was covered. The result? Maggots came from flies, not the meat. -
Limitation of Redi's experiment
Redi's experiment only showed that maggots didn't come from meat, not all life forms. So, it couldn't completely disprove the idea of spontaneous generation. -
Needham Try
In 1745, a person named Needham tried to heat up broth, seal it, and still found tiny living things. He thought this supported the idea of spontaneous generation. Maybe there were problems like contamination, sealing issues, or not boiling enough. -
Spallanzani's doubt
Another person named Spallanzani didn't agree. He did similar experiments but took extra care. In his sealed broth, no life appeared, suggesting contamination was the issue. -
Pasteur's Solution
Later on, Louis Pasteur designed special bottles to trap germs and tested if life could appear in broth exposed to air. Turns out, life forms appeared when exposed to air, showing contamination from the air, not spontaneous generation. -
Learned
Life doesn't just come from nowhere—it comes from other living things. Pseudoscience (fake science) can slow down real progress.