|
Spontaneous generation is the term used to describe a historical theory regarding the origin of life, which held that the generation of living organisms from non-living matter was a commonplace and everyday occurance. The original theory is attributed to Aristotle, and it held sway for two millenia. It is generally accepted to have been ultimately disproven in the mid-to-late 19th Century by the experiments of Louis Pasteur, expanding upon the experiments of other scientists before him.
Examples of the original theory, put forth by Aristotle, included the generation of maggots from rotting meat, mice from dirty hay, birds from trees, and lice from sweat.
According to Aristotle's theory, living things came forth from nonliving things because the nonliving material contained pneuma, or "vital heat". The creature generated was dependant on the proportions of this pneuma and the five elements he believed comprised all matter.[1]
However, these examples were disproven by scientists like Francisco Redi (1668), Lazarro Spallanzani (1858), and Louis Pasteur (1860).
The disproof of ongoing spontaneous generation is no longer controversial, now that the life cycles of maggots and other pests have been well documented. However, the question of abiogenesis, how living things originally arose from non-living material, remains relevant today.
References
| |
