John Needham

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John Turberville Needham (1713-1781) FRS, was an English biologist and Roman Catholic priest.

He was first exposed to 'natural philosophy' while in seminary school and later published a paper which, while the subject was mostly about geology, described the mechanics of pollen and him won recognition in the Botany community.

He did experiments with gravy and later tainted wheat that seemed to show that life was able to be generated from non-living material, or Abiogenesis (spontaneous generation). Lazzaro Spallanzani repeated the experiments but this time covering the containers which contained the gravy and wheat (which Needham did not do), and the living organisms which appeared in Needham's original experiments did not appear. Needham argued that air was essential for the life, including those formed from spontaneous generation and this air had been excluded in the experiments of Spallanzani, therefore destroying the 'vegetative force'. Spallanzani eventually won out.

He is frequently believed to an Irish Jesuit, a myth which was created by Voltaire during a feud regarding spontaneous generation in which Voltaire was against Needham and his theories.

He was a member of the Royal Society, having become a member in 1768. He was the first Catholic priest to become a member.