Sparks of life : Darwinism and the Victorian debates over spontaneous generation / James E. Strick.

Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2000.

xi, 283 pages : illustrations, portrait ; 25 cm

Includes bibliographical references (p. 274-275) and index.

Spontaneous generation and early Victorian science -- "Molecular" theories and the conversion of Owen and Bennett -- Bastian as rising star -- Initial confrontation with the X club: 1870-1873 -- Colloids, pleomorphic theories, and cell theories: a state of flux -- Germ theories and the British medical community -- Purity and contamination: Tyndall's campaign as the final blow.