Francesco Redi

Francesco Redi was an Italian scientist from the 17th century known for challenging the idea that maggots spontaneously appeared from rotting meat. He conducted experiments by covering meat with gauze and leaving some uncovered. His findings showed that maggots only appeared on meat exposed to flies, indicating that flies lay eggs, which then hatch into maggots. Redi's work helped prove that life comes from existing living organisms, significantly advancing the scientific understanding of reproduction and debunking earlier beliefs in spontaneous generation.