John Needham

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John Needham
John Needham
Born	10 September 1713
Died	30 December 1781
Nationality	English
Fields	biology

John Turberville Needham FRS (10 September 1713 – 30 December 1781) was an English biologist and Roman Catholic priest.

He was first exposed to 'natural philosophy' while in seminary school and later published a paper which, while the subject was mostly about geology, described the mechanics of pollen and won recognition in the Botany community.

He did experiments with gravy and later tainted wheat that seemed to show that life was able to be generated from non-living material, or abiogenesis (spontaneous generation). Lazzaro Spallanzani repeated the experiments but this time covering the containers which contained the gravy and wheat (which Needham did not do), and the living organisms which appeared in Needham's original experiments did not appear. Needham argued that air was essential for the life, including those formed from spontaneous generation and that this air had been excluded in the experiments of Spallanzani, therefore destroying the 'vegetative force'. Spallanzani eventually won out. Another experiment Needham did was boil chicken broth and seal it up. Usually boiling kills bacteria, yet micro organisms still appeared. Victorious, Needham suggested that there was a life force that produced spontaneous generation.

He is frequently believed to be an Irish Jesuit, a myth which was created by Voltaire during a feud regarding spontaneous generation in which Voltaire was against Needham and his theories.

He was a member of the Royal Society, having become a member in 1768. He was the first Catholic priest to become a member.

[edit] References

Ratcliff, Marc J (2003). "[Clandestinity, authority and experiments: styles and controversies on spontaneous generation from the Journal de Trévoux (1735) to Réaumur (1757)]". Medicina nei secoli 15 (2): 319-50. PMID 15326688.
Roe, S A. "Voltaire versus Needham: atheism, materialism, and the generation of life". Journal of the history of ideas 46 (1): 65-87. PMID 11620668.
Roe, S A (Jun 1983). "John Turberville Needham and the generation of living organisms". Isis; an international review devoted to the history of science and its cultural influences 74 (272): 159-84. PMID 6347964.
Gottdenker, P (Jul 1980). "Three clerics in pursuit of "little animals"". Clio medica (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 14 (3-4): 213-24. PMID 6161735.