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Redi's Experiment
Italian scientest Francesco Redi disproves the hypothesis that living things can be created from non-living things. He conducted an experiment with 2 jars that both contained fresh meat. One jar was covered with cloth and the other left open. His results showed that the flies flew into the jar and laid their eggs on the meat as opposed to the meat creating the maggots. -
Needham's Experiment
John Needham challenges Redi's theory by boiling chicken broth in a flask. Even after sealing the flask of chicken brorth and boiling it, microrganisms still began to form in the broth. -
Spallanzani's Experiment
Italian scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani questioned Needham's experiment and decided to challenge it. This time, he uses two flasks. He seals one flask and creates a vacuum in it, ensuring no air containing microorganisms enter the flask right before it was sealed. The other flask was sealed normally. Both were boiled. As a result, the sealed and vacuum flask contained no microorrganisms. -
Pasteur's Experiment
French chemist Louis Pasteur finally puts an end to the long debate on spontaneous generation. He conducts a variation of Needham's and Spallanzani's experiement. Pasteur heats the neck of the flask until it was pliable and shaped it into an 'S'. This way, the microorganisms will settle on the flat part of the neck by gravity and only microorganism-free air can enter. He manages to convince the people that microorganisms are all around us in the air.
