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20 Outlandish Scientific Theories from History

Steve July 27, 2019 28 min

Black Death - Miasma theory — A representation by Robert Seymour of the cholera epidemic of the 19th century depicts the spread of the disease in the form of poisonous air.

1. Stipulating living creatures could arise from nonliving matter, spontaneous generation was eventually discredited with the discovery of microbial life during the 19th century

Louis Pasteur performing an experiment in his laboratory; author and date unknown. Wikimedia Commons.

Attempting to provide a natural and scientific explanation to the phenomenon of life without resorting to divine agency, Anaximander is the first known individual to offer the argument of primal chaos from which, by elemental means unknown, life is generated. Coherently organized and expanded upon by Aristotle, although recognizing some forms of life are spawned by natural reproduction, the Greek philosopher proposed that living things might also come from nonliving entities. Suggesting an expansive theory of spontaneous generation, Aristotle asserted the interaction of elemental matter and heat could equally produce life.

Although lost following the fall of Rome in the 5th century, following the reintroduction of Aristotle’s works to Western Europe via Islamic scholars his ideas received renewed support. Conflicting with some biblical and religious opinions, for whom many adherents saw all life as created by divine will and not by natural forces, throughout the Middle Ages spontaneous generation remained a leading scientific theory. Increasingly disputed and discredited, the issue was finally settled by Louis Pasteur in 1859. Demonstrating the existence of microbial lifeforms, these tiny forces beyond the human visual spectrum had, unseen to the human eye, provided the circumstances underpinning belief in spontaneous generation and their conclusive existence shredded the ancient theory.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Biology and Ideology from Descartes to Dawkins”, Denis R. Alexander and Ronald L. Numbers, University of Chicago Press (2010)

“Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science”, Robert L. Park, Princeton University Press (2008)

“About Face: The ABCs of Face Reading”, Liz Gerstein, Sterling House Publisher (2005)

“Theories of the World from Antiquity to the Copernican Revolution”, Michael J. Crowe, Dover Publications (1990)

“The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man’s Changing Vision of the Universe”, Arthur Koestler, Penguin Books (1959)

“The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary”, Alice Tryon, American Fern Journal (1957)

“A Brief History of Miasmic Theory”, Carl S. Sterner, Bulletin of the History of Medicine (2007)

“Death and Miasma in Victorian London: An Obstinate Belief”, Stephen Halliday, British Medical Journal (2001)

“Species, Serpents, Spirits, and Skulls: Science at the Margins in the Victorian Age”, Sherrie L. Lyons, New York Press (2010)

“The Tongue Map: Tasteless Myth Debunked”, Christopher Wanjek, Live Science (August 29, 2006)

“The Taste Map: All Wrong”, David V. Smith and Robert F. Margolskee, Scientific American September, 2006