Louis Pasteur · Science
How Pasteur, with a swan-necked flask and a boiled broth, struck what he called the mortal blow against the ancient belief that living things spring spontaneously from dead matter. It was one of the most elegant experiments ever devised, and it settled a question that had been argued since antiquity.
You learned that Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation with his swan-necked flask experiment, showing that boiled broth stays sterile as long as airborne germs are kept out. In your own words, explain how the experiment worked, why the curved neck was the crucial feature, and why this result mattered far beyond a l…
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