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spontaneous generation: Quick Facts

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This diagram illustrates key experiments disproving spontaneous generation: Redi's 1668 meat-in-jar experiment showing maggots only appear where flies can access meat, and Pasteur's 1859 broth-in-flask experiment showing sterilized broth remains free of bacteria unless exposed to unfiltered air.
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Key People

Painting by Albert Edelfelt showing Louis Pasteur in his laboratory, holding a glass flask and examining it intently, surrounded by scientific equipment on a workbench.
Louis Pasteur
French chemist and microbiologist
Oil painting by Jan Verkolje showing Antonie van Leeuwenhoek seated at a table with a globe, papers, inkstand, and a compass in hand, wearing a brown robe and white shirt.
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Dutch scientist
Statue of Italian physician and poet Francesco Redi; located outside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
Francesco Redi
Italian physician and poet
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John Needham
British naturalist
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Félix-Archimède Pouchet
French naturalist