nfirmed Leeuwenhoek's discoveries.
As the years past, Leeuwenhoek became rather famous. He was visited by Peter the Great and the Queen of England. Despite such notoriety, however, the man retained his honesty and common sense throughout his life. He died in 1723 at the age of 91 (de Kruif 3-22).
Chapter 2 of de Kruif's book discusses Lazzaro Spallanzani. Born in the northern Italian town of Scandiano, Spallanzani faced many enemies during his life. His struggles, however, were driven by a passion for truth.
Born in 1729, Spallanzani was an strange child whose father was a lawyer. For instance, the boy was known to investigate living things in nature by pulling off their legs and wings. His father encouraged young Spallanzani to pursue a career in law. The boy appeared to take an interest in the subject, but secretly devoted his energies to other affairs. Instead of law, he studied mathematics, Greek, French, and Logic. Eventually, he managed to meet noted scientist, Vallisnieri, who encouraged him to study science at the University of Reggio.
By Spallanzani's time, science had become more acceptable: the "thrill and dignity of real research into nature" had begun to be appreciated. Regardless though, Spallanzani's life was full of battles. Before the age of 30, he was made a professor at the University. Eventually, he became involved in the debate over whether or not life can arise spontaneously. During those years, it was popularly believed that, for example, "beetles and wasps were generated in cow dung." Spallanzani, however, questioned everything. Soon, he was performing experiments with boiled soup sealed flasks. He found that microbes would only grow flasks that had been corked. He therefore concluded that the animals came from the air and that the theory was wrong.
Like Leeuwenhoek, Spallanzani also achieved great notoriety. In time, envious colleagues turned against him. Accusations that he...