Spontaneous Generation was a theory that as spanned a large time period, roughly from the 1650 to 1850.
The main idea of this theory is that some living organisms form from non-living matter. For example people believed pieces of cheese and bread wrapped in rags and left in a dark corner produced mice. This seems crazy but it was what some believed before science could prove what we know now. Francesco Redi and Lazzaro Spallanzani were two key contributors to disproving this theory. There was of course others who helped a great deal such as Louis Pasteur, John Tyndall, and many others. Our focus here though will be on the works of Redi and Lazzaro. You will see just how popular the Spontaneous Generation was and how anything Redi and Lazzaro did to disprove it would be criticized and try to disprove them.
The main idea of this theory is that some living organisms form from non-living matter. For example people believed pieces of cheese and bread wrapped in rags and left in a dark corner produced mice. This seems crazy but it was what some believed before science could prove what we know now. Francesco Redi and Lazzaro Spallanzani were two key contributors to disproving this theory. There was of course others who helped a great deal such as Louis Pasteur, John Tyndall, and many others. Our focus here though will be on the works of Redi and Lazzaro. You will see just how popular the Spontaneous Generation was and how anything Redi and Lazzaro did to disprove it would be criticized and try to disprove them.