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322 BCE
Aristotle
founder of spontaneous generation theory -
William Harvey
suggested that life came from invisible eggs by dissecting pregnant deer -
Francesco Redi
meat in jars...
maggots came from flies that could be excluded -
Antonio Micheli
can contaminate melon with fungal spores to grow the same fungus.
spoilage comes from spreading spores -
John Needham
boiled broth, then sealed the jar, broth still spoiled -
Joseph Priestly
There is an early part of a plant or animal 'germ' that has everything needed to grow into the adult plant or animal with time and nutrition -
Louis Pastur
Swan neck flask
Boiled broth in open flask with access to air, but no dust. Broth did not spoil.