Many scientists of the day believed in vitalism, the idea that living organisms, in addition to the sustenance they received from food, water, air, and so on, also possessed a “vital,” life-giving force. While an organism was alive, this vital force controlled the physical and chemical processes that took place within it. Logically, therefore, when it died, that vital force disappeared, leaving the dead organism to decay as if it were inanimate. Helmholtz and his friends opposed this “vitalist” view and felt disproving it was a crucial step to putting biology on the same footing as physics and
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