Spontaneous Generation :: essays research papers

From the time of the Ancient Romans, with the Middle Ages, and until the late nineteenth century, it was generally accepted that life arose ad libitum from non-living matter. Such "spontaneous generation" appeared to occur primarily in decaying matter. For example, a seventeenth century idea for the spontaneous generation of mice required placing sweaty underwear and husks of wheat in an open-mouthed jar. Then, attending for about 21 days, during which time it was give tongue to that the sweat from the underwear would penetrate the husks of wheat, changing them into mice. Although that idea may come a hanker ridiculous today, that and other ideas like it were weighd and accepted during that time, which was not too long ago.The first serious attack on the idea of spontaneous generation was made in 1668 by Francesco Redi, an Italian physician and poet. At that time, it was approximation that maggots arose spontaneously in rotting meat. Redi believed that maggots develope d from eggs laid by flies after observing that they had different developmental stages.. To test his hypothesis, he set out meat in a variety of flasks, around open to the air, some sealed completely, and others covered with gauze. As he had expected, maggots appeared solely in the open flasks in which the flies could reach the meat and puzzle their eggs. This was one of the first examples of an experiment in which controls are used. In spite of his well-executed experiment, the belief in spontaneous generation remained strong, and even Redi continued to believe it occurred under some circumstances. The invention of the microscope encouraged this silly belief. Microscopes revealed a altogether new world of organisms that appeared to arise spontaneously. It was quickly learned that to create "animalcules," as the organisms were called, you needed only to place hay in water and wait a few days before examining your new creations under the microscope. The take over spontan eous generation continued for centuries. In 1745, John Needham, an side of meat clergyman, proposed what he considered the definitive experiment. Everyone knew that boiling killed microorganisms, so he proposed to test whether or not microorganisms appeared spontaneously after boiling. He boiled chicken broth, frame in it into a flask, sealed it, and waited - sure enough, microorganisms grew. Needham claimed victory for spontaneous generation. An Italian priest, Lazzaro Spallanzani, was not convinced, and he suggested that perhaps the microorganisms had entered the broth from the air after the broth was boiled, just now before it was sealed.