Research

He is most well-known for his series of experiments, published in 1668 as Esperienze

Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti (Experiments on the Generation of Insects) which is
regarded as one of the first steps in refuting "spontaneous generation" - a theory also known
as Aristotelian abiogenesis. At the time, prevailing wisdom was that maggots formed
naturally from rotting meat.

In one experiment, Redi took six jars, which he divided in two groups of three: in the first jar
of each group, he put an unknown object; in the second, a dead fish; in the last, a raw chunk
of veal. Redi took the first group of three, and covered the tops with fine gauze so that only
air could get into it. He left the other group of jars open. After several days, he saw maggots
appear on the objects in the open jars, on which flies had been able to land, but not in the
gauze-covered jars.

He continued his experiments by capturing the maggots and waiting for them to
metamorphose, which they did, becoming flies. Also, when dead flies or maggots were put in
sealed jars with dead animals or veal, no maggots appeared, but when the same thing was
done with living flies, maggots did .