Browne was among the first people to question the notion of spontaneous generation. He was a medical doctor and amateur scientist making this observation in passing. Biblical scholars of the time such as Justus Lipsius (1547–1606) and Athanasius Kircher (c.1601–80) were also beginning to look at the Ark story more closely. They tried to fit the Biblical account with natural historical knowledge of their time. The resulting hypotheses were important. They were a driving force behind the study of the geographical distribution of plants and animals. This kind of study became biogeography in the 18th century. Natural historians began to draw connections between climates and the animals and plants adapted to them. One important theory said that the biblical Ararat was striped with different climatic zones. When climate changed, the associated animals moved as well. Eventually they spread to repopulate the globe. 