Question

The scientist who gave the concept of spontaneous generation was ______.

Options

• J. B. van Helmont

• Robert Koch

• Oparin and Miller

• Francesco Redi

Answer 1

The scientist who gave the concept of spontaneous generation was Francesco Redi.

Explanation:

In 1668, the Italian physician Francesco Redi (1626-1698) was the first to discard spontaneous generation of life. He cooked some fish so that no organisms were left alive and placed them in three jars; one of these jars was left uncovered, the second was covered with fine muslin cloth, and the third was covered with parchment paper. After a few days, maggots appeared only in the first jar but not in the other two. He thus concluded that flies arise from the eggs laid down by the parent flies in the uncovered jar. He thus disproved the spontaneous generation of maggots.