be Esperienze Intorno Alla Generazione Degli Insetti (1668), in which he disproved the doctrine of spontaneous generation. Even if decaying animals or plants appeared to give birth to an infinity of worms (larvae), which in reality was quite different, he held. It must be assumed that flesh and plants and other things whether putrefied or putrifiable ply no other part, or have any other function in the generation of insects, than to prepare a suitable place or nest into which, at the time of procreation the worms, or eggs, or other seed of worms are brought and hatched by the animals; and in this nest the worms, as soon as they are born, find sufficient food on which to nourish themselves excellently. These organic bodies never become verminous if they are kept in a place where flies and gnats cannot enter. (Gillespie 341)In the seventeenth century people believed that creatures such as mice were formed by abiogenesis, or spontaneously. For example, a seventeenth century recipe for the spontaneous production of mice required placing sweaty underwear and husks of wheat in an open-mouthed jar, then waiting for about 21 days, during which time it was alleged that the sweat from the underwear would penetrate the husks of wheat, changing them into mice. (accessexcellence.org) Redi proved this wrong in experiments by covering some jars that contained meat and cheese with a fine netting, and left others uncovered. He found that in the jars that were uncovered, flies and maggots appeared in a few days, while in the jars that were covered, eggs were laid on top, but no flies or maggots were found in the meat or cheese. This method, which has remained the method of experimental biology ever since, consists in repeating the same experiments in different ways, modifying only one parameter at a time, and carrying out suitable tests. (Galileo.html)Some of the events occurring in the world at this time include, the Inquisition forces Galileo to recan...
