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Spontaneous generation is a superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from nonliving matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was hypothesized that certain forms, such as fleas , could arise from inanimate matter such as dust, or that maggots could arise from dead flesh.
Lazzaro Spallanzani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈladdzaro spallanˈtsaːni]; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily functions, animal reproduction, and animal echolocation. [2]
Doctor Redi. The son of Gregorio Redi and Cecilia de Ghinci, Francesco Redi was born in Arezzo on 18 February 1626. His father was a renowned physician at Florence.After schooling with the Jesuits, Francesco Redi attended the University of Pisa from where he obtained his doctoral degrees in medicine and philosophy in 1647, at the age of 21. [4]
English: Spontaneous Generation of Seashells, according to Aristotle, varied with the nature of the seabed. Slime gave rise to oysters; Sand, to scallops; and the Hollows of rocks, to limpets and barnacles. People kept on wondering, though, whether the eggs of these animals might not be central to the generation process.
The contents of the flask thus remain free of microbes, a property showcased by French microbiologist Louis Pasteur in nineteenth century experiments used to support germ theory as the cause of fermentation over spontaneous generation from bad air . [1] [2] [3] Bottle en col de cygne (Swan neck bottle) used by Louis Pasteur
This put an end to the previous theory of spontaneous generation. After reading letters by Leeuwenhoek, Hooke was the first to confirm his observations that were thought to be unlikely by other contemporaries. [4] Cells in animal tissues were observed later than those in plants because their tissues are fragile and difficult to study.
Van Leeuwenhoek disagreed with spontaneous generation, and by the 1680s convinced himself, using experiments ranging from sealed and open meat incubation and the close study of insect reproduction, that the theory was incorrect. [21] In 1668 Francesco Redi showed that no maggots appeared in meat when flies were prevented from laying eggs. [22]
Both envisaged that spontaneous generation produced simple forms of life that progressively developed greater complexity, adapting to the environment by inheriting changes in adults caused by use or disuse. This process was later called Lamarckism.