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Needham Rebuttal
John Needham, an English scientist, recreated Redi’s experiment by putting broth in 2 bottles and sealing them, however after receiving different results, Needham believed that Redi’s results were in fact unreal. -
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Redi Experiment
This experiment disproved the theory that maggots were spawned from raw meat, and helped bring the belief that the spontaneous generation is a hoax one step closer. Moulton, Glen. "Origin of Life." Fact Monster. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2016. -
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Mice from clothes
In the 17th century, a physician and chemist named Jean Baptiste van Helmont, believed that the recipe to spawn mice was to place wheat in a soiled shirt and left out for 21 days. His belief for spontaneous generation caused many other to believe such theories, due to the lack of technology in order to investigate. Simon, Matt. "Fantastically Wrong: Why People Once Thought Mice Grew Out of Wheat and Sweaty Shirts." Wired. N.p., 4 June 2014. Web. 27 Aug. 2016. -
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Spallazani experiment
In 1765, a Spanish scientist named Lazzaro Spallanzani. From this experiment he concluded that spontaneous generation did indeed not occur, however, he believed that the reason was that the glass flask was immediately sealed, and for spontaneous generation to occur, it would be necessary for there to be enough air. Welsh, Michael. "Cell Theory And The Rejection Of Spontaneous Generation." Prezi.com. N.p., 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Aug. 2016. -
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Theodore's Discoveries
In the early 1800s, Schwann Theodore discovered the skill of killing microorganisms by boiling water. Theodore’s discoveries disproved claims of spontaneous generation not occurring in water that was boiled, and further lead to the end of the spontaneous generation theory. -
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Pasteur's Experiment
In the 1860s, French scientist Louis Pasteur recreated the experiment, however, this time he left the bottle open to air, but the bottle itself had multiple curves. This experiment proved the fact that air did not in fact contaminate the meat, rather the dust did, this meant only life forms that already preexisted could produce microorganisms which lead the meat to be rotten, which supported the theory that life could not simply appear from non-living things.