Sparks of life : Darwinism and the Victorian debates over spontaneous generation

How, asks James E. 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. The Victorian debates, Strick shows, were entwined with the public controversy over Darwin's theory of evolution. While other histories of the debates between 1860 and 1880 have focused largely on the experiments of John Tyndall, Henry Charlton Bastian, and others, Sparks of Life emphasizes previously understudied changes in the theories that underlay the debates. Strick argues that the disputes cannot be understood without full knowledge of the factional infighting among Darwinians themselves, as they struggled to create a socially and scientifically viable form of "Darwinian" science. He shows that even the terms of the debate, such as "biogenesis," usually but incorrectly attributed to Huxley, were intensely contested. (20001202) Title Page......Page 3 Acknowledgments......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Introduction......Page 15 Early History......Page 17 Needham versus Spallanzani......Page 19 Worms, Molecules, and Evolution......Page 23 Note on Terminology......Page 25 Why Another Study of the Spontaneous Generation Debates?......Page 26 The Standard Story of the British Debates......Page 33 Bastian and Burdon Sanderson......Page 37 Criticisms of Bastian by Lankester and Roberts......Page 39 The Germ Theory of Disease......Page 40 The Role of Heat-Resistant Spores......Page 42 Major Victorian Scientists through the 1860s......Page 43 Brownian Movement and Histological Molecules......Page 49 Owen’s Role in Developing Ideas on Spontaneous Generation......Page 51 John Hughes Bennett and “Histological Molecules”......Page 56 Owen’s Change and the Darwinians......Page 61 Bennett’s Conversion to Spontaneous Generation......Page 69 Further Response to Owen’s Conversion......Page 70 Bastian’s Background......Page 76 Bastian Enters the Spontaneous Generation Debate......Page 81 Wallace and Darwin Discuss Bastian......Page 86 Further Support for Bastian......Page 88 Huxley’s Tightrope Act......Page 92 Huxley’s Attitude toward Young Men of Talent......Page 95 Huxley Turns against Bastian......Page 100 Brownian Movement and Other Rhetorical Devices......Page 101 The Younger Darwinians......Page 108 Bastian, Huxley, and the Royal Society......Page 110 E. Ray Lankester and Bastian......Page 114 5 / Colloids, Pleomorphic Theories, and Cell Theories: A State of Flux......Page 119 Thomas Graham and Colloids......Page 120 Conservation of Energy and Correlation of Forces......Page 124 Cell Theory and the Demise of Histological Molecules......Page 128 Brownian Movement Revisited......Page 132 Life Cycles in Infusorial Monads......Page 133 Pleomorphist Theories of Bacteria......Page 137 6 / Germ Theories and the British Medical Community......Page 143 The Cattle Plague of 1865–66 and Germ Theories......Page 144 Tyndall, the Germ Theory, and the Medical Community......Page 148 Support in the Medical Community for Bastian......Page 158 The Pathological Society Debate of April 1875......Page 163 The Physiological Society......Page 166 7 / Purity and Contamination: Tyndall’s Campaign as the Final Blow......Page 171 Tyndall’s A Priori Commitments......Page 172 Embarking on the Quest and Recruiting Support......Page 176 The Exact Sciences versus the Biomedical Sciences......Page 181 The X Club and the Royal Society......Page 184 Spores: Tough Allies to Kill......Page 187 Convincing Pasteur: Urine Proves a Weak Ally......Page 192 Conclusions......Page 197 Epilogue, 1880 through 1915......Page 204 Glossary......Page 211 Timeline......Page 213 Cast of Characters......Page 216 Abbreviations......Page 221 Introduction......Page 222 1 Spontaneous Generation and Victorian Science......Page 224 2 “Molecular” Theories......Page 227 3 Bastian as Rising Star......Page 241 4 Initial Confrontation with the X Club......Page 248 5 Colloids, Pleomorphic Theories, and Cell Theories......Page 254 6 Germ Theories and the British Medical Community......Page 262 7 Purity and Contamination......Page 273 Conclusions......Page 281 Archival Materials......Page 288 Unpublished Materials......Page 289 Index......Page 290 Title Page 3 Acknowledgments 7 Contents 9 Introduction 15 Early History 17 Needham versus Spallanzani 19 Worms, Molecules, and Evolution 23 Note on Terminology 25 Why Another Study of the Spontaneous Generation Debates? 26 1 / Spontaneous Generation and Early Victorian Science 33 The Standard Story of the British Debates 33 Bastian and Burdon Sanderson 37 Criticisms of Bastian by Lankester and Roberts 39 The Germ Theory of Disease 40 The Role of Heat-Resistant Spores 42 Major Victorian Scientists through the 1860s 43 2 / “Molecular” Theories and the Conversion of Owen and Bennett 49 Brownian Movement and Histological Molecules 49 Owen’s Role in Developing Ideas on Spontaneous Generation 51 John Hughes Bennett and “Histological Molecules” 56 Owen’s Change and the Darwinians 61 Bennett’s Conversion to Spontaneous Generation 69 Further Response to Owen’s Conversion 70 3 / Bastian as Rising Star 76 Bastian’s Background 76 Bastian Enters the Spontaneous Generation Debate 81 Wallace and Darwin Discuss Bastian 86 Further Support for Bastian 88 4 / Initial Confrontation with the X Club: 1870–1873 92 Huxley’s Tightrope Act 92 Huxley’s Attitude toward Young Men of Talent 95 Huxley Turns against Bastian 100 Brownian Movement and Other Rhetorical Devices 101 The Younger Darwinians 108 Bastian, Huxley, and the Royal Society 110 E. Ray Lankester and Bastian 114 5 / Colloids, Pleomorphic Theories, and Cell Theories: A State of Flux 119 Thomas Graham and Colloids 120 Conservation of Energy and Correlation of Forces 124 Cell Theory and the Demise of Histological Molecules 128 Brownian Movement Revisited 132 Life Cycles in Infusorial Monads 133 Pleomorphist Theories of Bacteria 137 6 / Germ Theories and the British Medical Community 143 The Cattle Plague of 1865–66 and Germ Theories 144 Tyndall, the Germ Theory, and the Medical Community 148 Support in the Medical Community for Bastian 158 The Pathological Society Debate of April 1875 163 The Physiological Society 166 7 / Purity and Contamination: Tyndall’s Campaign as the Final Blow 171 Tyndall’s A Priori Commitments 172 Embarking on the Quest and Recruiting Support 176 The Exact Sciences versus the Biomedical Sciences 181 The X Club and the Royal Society 184 Spores: Tough Allies to Kill 187 Convincing Pasteur: Urine Proves a Weak Ally 192 Conclusions 197 Epilogue, 1880 through 1915 204 Glossary 211 Timeline 213 Cast of Characters 216 Notes 221 Abbreviations 221 Introduction 222 1 Spontaneous Generation and Victorian Science 224 2 “Molecular” Theories 227 3 Bastian as Rising Star 241 4 Initial Confrontation with the X Club 248 5 Colloids, Pleomorphic Theories, and Cell Theories 254 6 Germ Theories and the British Medical Community 262 7 Purity and Contamination 273 Conclusions 281 Sources 288 Archival Materials 288 Unpublished Materials 289 Index 290 How, asks James E. 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.The Victorian debates, Strick shows, were entwined with the public controversy over Darwin's theory of evolution. While other histories of the debates between 1860 and 1880 have focused largely on the experiments of John Tyndall, Henry Charlton Bastian, and others, Sparks of Life emphasizes previously understudied changes in the theories that underlay the debates. Strick argues that the disputes cannot be understood without full knowledge of the factional infighting among Darwinians themselves, as they struggled to create a socially and scientifically viable form of "Darwinian" science. He shows that even the terms of the debate, such as "biogenesis", usually but incorrectly attributed to Huxley, were intensely contested. "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."--BOOK JACKET.