Sparks of life Darwinism and the Victorian debates over spontaneous generation Strick, James Edgar 1956- creator author text bibliography History mau 2000 monographic eng print xi, 283 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm "How, asks James Strick, could spontaneous generation - the idea that living things can suddenly arise from nonliving materials - come to take root for a time (even a brief one) in so thoroughly unsuitable a field as British natural theology? No less an authority than Aristotle claimed that cases of spontaneous generation were to be observed in nature, and the idea held sway for centuries. Beginning around the time of the Scientific Revolution, however, the doctrine was increasingly challenged; attempts to prove or disprove it led to important breakthroughs in experimental design and laboratory techniques, most notably sterilization methods, that became the cornerstones of modern microbiology and sped the ascendancy of the germ theory of disease."--Jacket. Spontaneous generation and early Victorian science -- "Molecular" theories and the conversion of Owen and Bennett -- Bastian as rising star -- Initial confrontation with the X club: 1870-1873 -- Colloids, pleomorphic theories, and cell theories: a state of flux -- Germ theories and the British medical community -- Purity and contamination: Tyndall's campaign as the final blow. James E. Strick. Includes bibliographical references (pages 274-275) and index. e-uk--- Spontaneous generation History 19th century Evolution (Biology) Great Britain History 19th century Biological Evolution history Génération spontanée Histoire 19e siècle Evolution (Biology) Spontaneous generation Great Britain Urzeugung Evolutionstheorie Darwinismus Großbritannien Spontane generatie Darwinisme Biogenese Spontaneous generation Great Britain History Victoria, 1837-1901 Evolution (Biology) Great Britain History Victoria, 1837-1901 1800-1899 fast QH325 .S85 2000 576.8/8 42.21 Sparks of life Strick, James Edgar, 1956- Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2000 (OCoLC)606485199 Sparks of life Strick, James Edgar, 1956- Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2000 (OCoLC)607887534 067400292X 9780674002920 00031915 TAG TAGC DLC 000427 20240807182948.4 in00004807778 eng