It was a great pity that Pasteur focused on hypotheses over dataduring the spontaneous generation debate. The direct consequence was that thedebate could not be empirically settled until later German scientistsconducting more sophisticated research. The ‘experimenter’s regress’ impededthe development of science. Had Pasteur published the negative data andreplicated key experiments, he might have got the idea of unusuallyheat-resistant bacteria. “The experimental phase must rigorously test thetheory; it must not itself be shaped or modified by an imperative to prove thetheory correct.”(Waller) Otherwise, the consequence is that science will be“modified” and distorted. (Reference: Waller John. “The Pasteurization ofSpontaneous Generation.” FabulousScience: Fact and Fiction in the History of Scientific Discovery. Oxford:Oxford UP, 2002. 14-29.)