Spallanzani, the son of a lawyer from Scandiano, Italy attended the University of Bologna and began his studies in law. However, his cousin, Laura Bassi, a professor of physics and mathematics, introduced him to a broad range of scientific studies. Spallanzani altered his educational course and, in 1754, he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy. He joined the priesthood to support himself while he studied natural phenomena, hoping to determine explanations for such events as a stone skipping on water, the regeneration of decapitated snail heads, and the electric discharge of torpedo fish. Over the course of his career, Spallanzani would examine the pits of spitting volcanoes, the waters of eels, the dark depths of the bat's home, and the intricacies of the reproductive and vascular systems.

Yet, Spallanzani's greatest contribution was in the area of what was assumed to spontaneous generation of microorganisms. The theory of spontaneous generation...