 Spontaneous generation-the hypothetical process by which living organisms develop from

nonliving matter.
 The archaic theory that utilized this process to explain the origin of life.
 According to this theory, pieces of cheese and bread wrapped in rags and left in a dark corner,
for example, were thus thought to produce mice, because after several weeks there were mice
in the rags. (optional example)
 Many believed in spontaneous generation because it explained such occurrences as the
appearance of maggots on decaying meat.

 By the 18th century-it had become obvious that higher organisms could not be produced by
nonliving material.
 19th century-Louis Pasteur proved that microorganisms reproduce.
Spontaneous Generation
17th century-Middle Ages-19th century-, it was generally accepted that some organisms
originated directly from nonliving matter.

Such "spontaneous generation" appeared to start in decaying food,

urine, and manure because worms or maggots could be seen hatching
there after a few days. It was also believed that animals that lived in
mud, such as frogs and salamanders, were generated by the mud in
which they lived. Additionally, there were the widely held
misconceptions that rats were spontaneously generated in piles of
garbage or created from magical recipes.

Francesco Redi, -an Italian physician, naturalist, and poet, first challenged the idea of
spontaneous generation in 1668.

It was widely held that maggots arose spontaneously in rotting meat.

However, Redi rejected it as he hypothesized that maggots developed from
eggs laid by flies.

To test his hypothesis, he set out meat in a variety of jars, some open to the
air, some sealed completely, and some covered with gauze. As Redi had
expected, maggots appeared only in the jars in which the flies could reach the
meat and lay their eggs.

*Unfortunately, many people who were told or read about these experiments did not believe the
results, so if they still wanted to believe in spontaneous generation, they did. *

Even Redi continued to believe that it occurred under some circumstances and cited the example
of grubs developing in oak trees.

Microscopy revealed a whole new world of microorganisms that appeared to arise

spontaneously.

**The debate over spontaneous generation continued for centuries.**

Mid-eighteenth century-experiments by John Needham, an English naturalist, and the other

by Lazzaro Spallanzani, an Italian physiologist—were attempted but
were considered by proponents of spontaneous generation to be
unpersuasive.

1859-The idea of spontaneous generation was finally laid to rest by the French chemist, Louis
Pasteur.
 The French Academy of Sciences sponsored a competition for the greatest experiment
that could either prove or disprove spontaneous generation.

Pasteur devised a winning experiment where he boiled broth in a flask, heated the neck
of the flask in a flame until it became pliable, and bent it into the shape of an "S." With this
configuration, air could enter the flask, but airborne microorganisms could not, they would
settle by gravity in the neck of the flask.

As Pasteur had expected, no microorganisms grew. However, when he tilted the flask so
that airborne particles could enter, the broth rapidly became cloudy with life.

Pasteur had both refuted the theory of spontaneous generation and demonstrated that
microorganisms are everywhere, including the air.