The Lives of Significant Scientists

By Daniel Zimmermann

In this e-book, you will learn about Lazzaro Spallanzani, who helped disprove spontaneous generation; Tycho Brahe, a careful observer of the heaven; Johannes Kepler, who formulated three laws of planetary motion; Martin Klaproth, who discovered several chemical elements; Amedeo Avogadro, who discovered what is now known as Avogadro’s Law; Louis Agassiz, the Ice Age Scientis; Henry Moseley, whose productive career was cut short by death; Ignaz Semmelweis, the savior of mothers; Elie Metchnikoff, who discovered a major mechanism of body defense; and Simon Marius, a rival of Galileo.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359478026

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The Lives of Significant Scientists

The Lives of Significant Scientists

By Daniel Zimmermann

Lazzaro Spallanzani: His Life and His Work

Lazzaro Spallanzani was a distinguished eighteenth century scientist whose investigations were guided by Christian principles. His Christian principles became especially evident in his disputes with other scientists. While many distinguished scientists have marred their careers by unworthy conduct when engaged in controversy, Spallanzani offered effective proof for his own position without attacking the character of his opponents, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

In 1729, Spallanzani was born in the Duchy of Modena, which has since been incorporated into the nation of Italy. He was educated at the Jesuit College at Reggio and then at the University of Bologna. He studied such subjects as philosophy, languages, and law, but his real interest was science. He successively held teaching positions at Reggio College, the University of Modena, and the University of Pavia. He also became an ordained priest of the Roman Catholic Church. He lived long enough to witness the French Revolution and Napoleon’s invasion of the Italian peninsula, but he did not survive to see the dawn of the nineteenth century. He passed away in Pavia in 1799. (Note that the Reggio where Spallanzani studied and worked is a city in central Italy. It is not Reggio di Calabria.)

Spontaneous Generation

Spallanzani was one of the heroes of science who contended against the fallacious idea of spontaneous generation. Previously, Francesco Redi had shown that the maggots that usually appeared on decaying meat were not the product of spontaneous generation. But what about microscopic animalcules that delighted Leeuwenhoek?

John Needham addressed himself to this question. Unlike Leeuwenhoek, Needham and his contemporary Buffon did not believe that the animalcules were living beings. They thought that these microorganisms were only a vital force that could produce life.

Needham proceeded in the following manner. After boiling chicken broth to kill any preexisting life, he put it inside a flask and sealed it. After a few days, the infusion became cloudy, indicating the presence of life (which Needham interpreted to be the presence of the vital force that could produce life). Needham believed that he had proved spontaneous generation.

Not everyone accepted his results.