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330 BCE
Spontaneous Generation was Introduced
Spontaneous Generation was originally synthesized by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher. It is a theory/hypothesis of living organisms spontaneously originate/arise from non-living organisms, such as maggots arise from dead flesh, fleas arise from dust, frogs arise from mud, and rats arise from sewage ect. This theory has remained for 2 millennia. -
Jan 1, 1284
Stories of Spontaneous Generation around the World
In Egypt, every year in the spring, the Nile River flooded areas along the river, nutritious mud and soil were formed, enabling farmers to grow crops, also allowing a large number of frogs to appear. The Story of “Pied Piper of Hamelin, Germany” was a story about sewage waste, which lead to a number of rats. -
Jan 1, 1300
How "It" Traveled Around the World
In the 13th century, Aristotle reintroduced the idea of spontaneous generation to Western Europe, influencing numerous people. Around 1054, philosophers, thinkers and even Christians were being introduced with this new concept. Christians eventually accepted the idea. In “The City of God”, and “The Literal Meaning of Gensis”, it discusses issues like spontaneous generation, quoting Biblical passages: “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life.” (Genesis 1:20) -
Jan Swammerdam’s Opinion
Around the mid-16th century, Dutch biologist Jan Swammerdam “rejected” the concept of spontaneous generation, saying one animal could not arise from another. He stated that this theory was “irreligious”. -
Redi’s Flies
In 1668, Italian physician Francesco Redi constructed an experiment with flies and two wide-mouth jars containing meat; one jar was sealed, the other was left open. Flies began to lay eggs, and maggots hatched from the open jar, but there were no flies or maggots in the jar that was sealed. This experiment disproved the idea on spontaneous generation. -
John’s Soup Experiment
In 1745-1748, John Needham, a Scottish naturalist claimed there were “life forces” in molecules of all inorganic matter, performing multiple experiments on boiled broth. By boiling them, the soup would “cloud”, allowing microorganism to grow and persist. Needham proved the existence of spontaneous generation. -
The Swan-neck Flask Experiment
In 1859, Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, conducted the “Swan-neck Flask Experiment. He poured “infusion” into a flask, boiled the broth, killing all the microorganism inside. The flask was exposed to air, but due to the shape of the flask, the dust particles were never able to pass through, leaving them trapped at the neck of the flask. He tipped the flask, allowing the particles to enter the flask, the amount of of microorganisms inside multiplied vapidly. He disproved spontaneous generation.
