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100
360 BC - Aristotle Explores Spontaneous Generation
Aristotle was the first to start outlining the current existent philosophy. He stated: Everything is generated from another object, whether it be directly (a plant sprouting from a seed), or indirectly (insects developing from outside their parents). i. He explained that living things can come from non-living things because of pneuma, or “vital heat”. -
101
611 BCE - Spontaneous Generation Was First Introduced
The first western thinker to suggest that life arose spontaneously was probably Anaximander, a Milesian philosopher who wrote in the 6th and 5th centuries before Christ (611-547 BCE). He believed that everything arose out of the elemental nature of the universe -
Jan 1, 1580
William Harvey Rejects Spontaneous Generation
Wililam Harvey published his book rejecting the occurences of spontaneous generation, stating that "all life comes from eggs". -
Organelle First Seen
Cells were first seen in 1665 by Robert Hooke (who named them after monks' cells in a monastery), and were studied in more detail by Leeuwehoek using a primitive microscope. -
Cell Theory Was Introduced
Cell theory refers to the idea that cells are the basic unit of structure in every living thing. -
Spontaneous Generation
Spontaneous generation refers to both the supposed process by which life would systematically emerge from sources other than seeds, eggs or parents and to the theories which explained the apparent phenomenon. It was first introduced by ancient civilization, and it scientists begun to question it around this time. -
Francisco Redi Proves That Maggots Don't Rise From Flesh
Francisco Redi demonstrated in 1668 that maggots did not, contrary to Aristotle, arise spontaneously, but from eggs laid by adult flies. Meat covered so that the flies could not reach it was free of maggots, while meat that flies could reach developed them. -
John Needman Experiments With Soup
Needham, an Irish priest paired up with French arsitocrat Comte de Buffom. Togther they stopped mutton gravy and heated the liquid. They found microorganisms (priotists) in the swarming liquid. Tiny partiles (bactera) clumped together to make priotists. At that time, the experiment started a controversy in the science revolution as many believe Needham and Buffom were not using high quality microscopes with poor theories. -
Lazzaro Spallanzani Disproves Needham
He tried excluding air, placing infusions in five series of flasks. One series was left open, the other four were sealed and raised to boiling, each series for 30 seconds longer than the first. After two days the open series was swarming, and the 30 second series contained smaller organisms, while the remainder contained almost none. He had shown that the duration of the boiling mattered, in that some organisms were more heat resistant than others. Boiling sealed vessels for a half to three-quar -
Pasteur Disproves Spontaneous Generation
Pasteur boiled the broth in a flask to kill all organisms. He heated the neck of the flask and bent it into the shape of an "S," to prevent any organisms to pass into the broth, but allowing air to enter. When Pasteur tipped the flask so that the broth would reach come into contact with the microorganisms that settled in the flask neck, the broth would become teeming with life.
