Editing Francesco Redi (section)

==Scientific career==

===Experimental toxicology===
In 1664 Redi wrote his first monumental work ''Osservazioni intorno alle vipere'' (''Observations on Vipers'') to his friend Lorenzo Magalotti, secretary of the ''Accademia del Cimento''. In this he began to break the prevailing scientific myths (which he called "unmasking of the untruths") such as [[vipers]] drink wine and shatter glasses, their [[venom]] is poisonous if swallowed, the head of the dead viper is an [[antidote]], the viper's venom is produced from the [[gallbladder]], and so on. He explained rather how snake venom is unrelated to the snake’s bite, an idea contrary to popular belief.<ref>{{cite book |author= Francesco Redi |editor= Knoefel PK |title= Francesco Redi on Vipers |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5w8VAAAAIAAJ |access-date= 18 April 2013 |year= 1988 |publisher= E.J. Brill |location= Leiden, the Netherlands |pages= 11–17 |isbn= 9004089489 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160430040248/https://books.google.com/books?id=5w8VAAAAIAAJ&pg |archive-date= 30 April 2016 }}</ref> He performed a series of experiments on the effects of snakebites and demonstrated that venom was poisonous only when it enters the [[blood circulation|bloodstream]] via a bite, and that the [[fang]] contains venom in the form of yellow fluid.<ref name=haw/><ref name=hab>{{cite journal |author= Habermehl GG|title= Francesco Redi¬—life and work|year= 1994 |volume=32 |issue=4  |pages=411–417|pmid=8052995 |doi=10.1016/0041-0101(94)90292-5 |journal= Toxicon|bibcode= 1994Txcn...32..411H}}</ref> He even showed that by applying a tight [[ligature (medicine)|ligature]] before the wound, the passage of venom into the [[heart]] could be prevented. This work marked the beginning of experimental [[toxinology]]/[[toxicology]].<ref>{{cite book |author= Buettner KA |title= Francesco Redi (The Embryo Project Encyclopedia ) |url= http://embryo.asu.edu/view/embryo:124758 |access-date= 18 April 2013 |year= 2007 |issn= 1940-5030 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100619034436/http://embryo.asu.edu/view/embryo:124758 |archive-date= 19 June 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Hayes AN, Gilbert SG |title= Molecular, Clinical and Environmental Toxicology|chapter= Historical milestones and discoveries that shaped the toxicology sciences| journal= EXS|year=2009| volume=99 |issue=1 |pages= 1–35|pmid= 19157056 |doi=10.1007/978-3-7643-8336-7_1|series= Experientia Supplementum|isbn= 978-3-7643-8335-0}}</ref>

===Entomology and spontaneous generation===
{{Main| Spontaneous generation}}
[[File:Francesco Redi Esperienze intorno alla Generazione degli Insetti.jpg|thumb|upright|''Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti'' frontcover]]

Redi is best known for his series of [[experiment]]s, published in 1668 as ''Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti'' (''Experiments on the Generation of Insects''), which is regarded as his masterpiece and a milestone in the history of modern science. The book is one of the first steps in refuting "[[spontaneous generation]]"—a theory also known as Aristotelian [[abiogenesis]]. At the time, the prevailing wisdom was that [[maggot]]s arose spontaneously from rotting meat.<ref name=lev/>

[[File:Esperimento abiogenesi.jpg|thumb|left| A modern rendering of Redi's experiment on abiogenesis]]

Redi took six jars and divided them into two groups of three: In one experiment, 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 covered the tops of the first group of jars with fine [[gauze]] so that only air could get into them. He left the other group 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. In the second experiment, meat was kept in three jars. One of the jars was uncovered, and two of the jars were covered, one with cork and the other one with gauze. Flies could only enter the uncovered jar, and in this, maggots appeared. In the jar that was covered with gauze, maggots appeared on the gauze but did not survive.<ref>{{cite web |title= Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti fatte da Francesco Redi |author= Redi F |url= http://fermi.imss.fi.it/rd/bdv?/bdviewer/bid=323861 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120903004256/http://fermi.imss.fi.it/rd/bdv?%2Fbdviewer%2Fbid=323861 |archive-date= 3 September 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= Barnett B |title= Francesco Redi and Spontaneous Generation |url= http://www.pasteurbrewing.com/Articles/spontaneous-generation/francesco-redi-and-spontaneous-generation.html |access-date= 18 April 2013 |date= 30 September 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130523144406/http://www.pasteurbrewing.com/Articles/spontaneous-generation/francesco-redi-and-spontaneous-generation.html |archive-date= 23 May 2013 }}</ref>

[[File:Francesco Redi Esperienze intorno alla Generazione degli Insetti Mosca della Ciliegia.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration from Rediʼs ''Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti'']]

Redi 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. His interpretations were always based on biblical passages, such as his famous adage: ''omne vivum ex vivo'' ("All life comes from life").<ref name= ami/><ref>{{cite journal |author= Gottdenker P|title= Francesco Redi and the fly experiments| journal= Bull Hist Med |year=1979| volume=53 |issue=4 |pages= 575–592 |pmid= 397843}}</ref>

===Parasitology===
Redi was the first to describe [[ectoparasites]] in his ''Esperienze intorno alla generazione degl'insetti''. His notable illustrations in the book are those relevant to [[ticks]], including deer ticks and tiger ticks; it also contains the first depiction of the larva of [[Cephenemyiinae]], the nasal flies of deer, as well as the sheep liver fluke (''[[Fasciola hepatica]]''). His next [[treatise]] in 1684 titled ''Osservazioni intorno agli animali viventi che si trovano negli animali viventi'' (''Observations on Living Animals, that are in Living Animals'') recorded the descriptions and the illustrations of more than 100 parasites. In it, he also differentiates the [[earthworm]] (generally regarded as a [[helminth]]) and ''[[Ascaris lumbricoides]]'', the human roundworm. An important innovation from the book is his experiments in [[pharmacology|chemotherapy]] in which he employed the "[[scientific control|control]]"', the basis of [[experimental design]] in modern biological research.<ref name= lei/><ref name= ami/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ioli A, Petithory JC, Théodoridès J |title= Francesco Redi and the birth of experimental parasitology| journal= Hist Sci Med |year=1997| volume=31 |issue=1 |pages= 61–66 |pmid= 11625103}}</ref> He described some 180 species of parasites. Perhaps, his most significant observation was that parasites produce eggs and develop from them, which contradicted the prevailing opinion that they are produced spontaneously.<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Bush AO, Fernández JC, Esch GW, Seed JR |title=Parasitism: The Diversity and Ecology of Animal Parasites |url=https://archive.org/details/parasitismdivers0000unse|url-access=registration |year= 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location= Cambridge, UK| page= [https://archive.org/details/parasitismdivers0000unse/page/4 4]| isbn=0521664470}}</ref>
[[File:Francesco Redi-Uffizi.jpg|thumb|upright| Statue of Francesco Redi on the Uffizi Gallery (Piazzale degli Uffizi) in Florence. At his feet is a copy of ''Bacco in Toscana''.]]