Answer
It was the work of Louis Pasteur that gave rise to the Golden Age of Microbiology. Before Pasteur, the theory of spontaneous generation - the idea that microorganisms arose from abiotic matter - was still considered credible. Pasteur empirically discredited spontaneous generation with his experiment using swan-necked flasks containing broth. The broth initially had microorganisms but was subjected to heat treatment which killed these microorganisms. The flasks had a curved neck, which ensured that even though the flasks were open to the air, the airborne microorganisms would fall onto the neck of the flasks, and not the broth itself. The broth showed no contamination even after several months, which showed that microorganisms did not arise abiotically, and this finding enabled further research - in short, it enabled the Golden Age of Microbiology.
Work Step by Step
1. Before 1857, the theory of spontaneous generation (which holds that microorganisms originate from non-living or abiotic matter) still held.
2. Pasteur placed such non-living matter - broth - into flasks that were designed to allow air in but were swan-necked (bent in a S-shape to prevent microorganisms from getting to the broth). Any microorganisms already present in the broth were killed off with heat treatment.
3. Pasteur thus proved that microorganisms do not arise from non-living matter, for if that were so, the broth would have become contaminated regardless of how the flask containing it was designed.
4. By refuting spontaneous generation, Pasteur cleared the field for successive researchers to make new and beneficial discoveries: Koch proved the germ theory of disease (which Pasteur formulated but could not prove); Joseph Lister was able to perform surgery with aseptic techniques by utilizing phenol.
