Spallanzani was born on January 12, 1729, in Scandiano, Italy. He 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 world of reproduction, the waters of eels, the dark depths of the bat's home, and the intricacies of the vascular system.

Yet Spallanzani's greatest contribution was in the area of spontaneous generation of microorganisms. The theory of spontaneous generation held that...