spontaneous generation

Redi's experiment

1668

In 1668 Francesco Redi conduced an experiment to prove that spontaneous generation wasn't real. He was the first attempt to prove that theory wrong

Needham’s rebuttal

1745

After the invention of the microscopy it was believed that microorganisms appeared thanks to spontaneous generation. John Needham wanted to prove that belief and he performed an experiment that he thought would prove it. But his experiment was flawed

Criticism from Spallanzani

1769

Lazzaro Spallanzani realized the mistakes on John Needham's experiment but fixing his mistake. The results of his experiment proved him right

Pasteur puts spontaneous generation to rest

1862

spallanzi's experiment only proved that spontaneous generation couldn't occur without air, so Louis Pasteur re-created the experiment to prove it was fake once an for all. So he used a specific bottle that would let air in but trap all the microorganisms it could bring. He succed