Something from Nothing
The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong
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Aristotle's 'Spontaneous Generation'
In mediaeval europe, with its slavish reverence for aristotle and the inescapable influence of avaros, had a somewhat novel version of spontaneous generation to work with. The astrological influence of the heavens moves in the soul rich matter of the earth to produce a new life where no life like it was before. That meant you could get frogs from the ground, yes, but it also meant you can get bees from a lion, or parasitic worms from a dog, or wasps from a fig. By the 16 hundred spontaneous generation was broader, bigger and more deeply entrenched than ever. Flies came out of rotting fruit. Maggots grew on rotting meat.
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