THE BEECHMONT CREST GUIDE TO BIOLOGICAL TERMS
SPONTANEOUS GENERATION
Spontaneous generation refers to false (but previously common) ideas about the nature of life. In the 1600s, people widely believed that living things could arise from inanimate matter.
For example, maggots were supposed to be generated from decaying flesh. Mud and pond water were believed to produce frogs.
In 1668, the Italian physician Francesco Redi performed an experiment that disproved the idea of spontaneous generation. He placed meat in three jars. The first of these jars had no cover, the second jar was covered by mesh, and the third jar was covered by a piece of parchment.
Redi left the three jars on his windowsill, and waited for a number of days to see which of them would contain maggots. (This must have produced a horrible smell!)
Since flies could only reach the open jar, this was the only one that had maggots in it at the end of the experiment. Redi’s meat and jar experiment effectively disproved the idea of spontaneous generation.