Need a little help

[Guest sw]

Hi there , this is my first post here and wondering if someone could help me please.I am taking a college elective class called the Science of Life. I have to answer two questions.

 

The first;

Who was the first scientist to prove that living things did not evolve form non living matter and what fellow countryman furthered his findings before the year 1800?

 

I thought it would of been Darwin but the year 1800 rules him out.

 

The second question;

Why dont the oceans leak out the bottom?

 

My guess is that the earth's crust seals the water in.

[the tree]

You are joking right?

[AL]

The first;

Who was the first scientist to prove that living things did not evolve form non living matter and what fellow countryman furthered his findings before the year 1800?

 

I thought it would of been Darwin but the year 1800 rules him out.

I would've said Louis Pasteur' date=' but a) he didn't really prove it was impossible; he only demonstrated a very particular way that won't work, and b) the year 1800 rules him out as well.

 

The second question;

Why dont the oceans leak out the bottom?

 

My guess is that the earth's crust seals the water in.

That question doesn't even make sense. What bottom?

[Hellbender]

Hi there , this is my first post here and wondering if someone could help me please.I am taking a college elective class called the Science of Life. I have to answer two questions.

good. Have fun. Although why this class isn't called simply "biology" is beyond me. (perhaps a question for your prof?)

The first;

Who was the first scientist to prove that living things did not evolve form non living matter and what fellow countryman furthered his findings before the year 1800?

 

I thought it would of been Darwin but the year 1800 rules him out.

Darwin? I hope you haven't fallen into that trap. But you might be thinking of Fransisco Redi and his experiments with maggots.

[-Demosthenes-]

Who was the first scientist to prove that living things did not evolve form non living matter and what fellow countryman furthered his findings before the year 1800?

Sounds like Redi and Pasteur, Redi did maggots, then Pasteur did it with microoganisms and furthered the work, but this was after 1800, Pasteur was probably like 1860's.

[swansont]

Who was the first scientist to prove that living things did not evolve form non living matter

 

As has been pointed out, this has only been shown for a very specific set of circumstances. You can't prove a negative.

 

The situation being alluded to is spontaneous generation - the life forms with which we are familiar don't spontaneously arise from nonliving matter, but this says nothing about simpler forms. Here is more on the topic.

 

BTW, what school has this as an elective - is it basically biology for non-biology majors?

[Guest sw]

Francesco Redi was the right answer and the later countryman was Lazzaro Spallanazi.

 

The other question I didnt write correctly , but basically the answer was; The oceans do leak down through cracks in the rock ,it gets heated up then re enters through deap sea ocean vents.. Bioligists feel that life may have started here because of heat and rich mineral supply.

 

Thanks all...except for first guy