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Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke made his discovery by using a primitive compound microscope to observe a nonliving, thin slice of cork. He saw that the cork was made of what seemed to be tiny empty chambers, which he called cells. Hooke disproved the previous model because before, no one even knew that cells existed. -
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Leeuwenhoek made his discovery by observing pond water with a single lens microscope (he made the lens himself.) He discovered tiny living organisms in the water that were everywhere, even in the human mouth! His discovery is what we call bacteria today. His model disproves the previous model because he shows that the cells are living. -
Robert Brown
Brown made his discovery by looking at cells of orchids through a microscope. He discovered the nucleus of a cell. This disproves the previous model because Brown shows that even though extremely tiny, cells contain a nucleus. -
Matthias Schleiden
Schleiden made his discovery buy studying different plants through a microscope. He proposed that plant tissue is composed of cells, and that cells are the building blocks of all plants. This disproves the previous model because Schleiden discovered living cells within plants. -
Theodor Schwann
Schwann made his discovery by observing cell-like structures embedded in cartilage. He discovered that all animals are made up of cells. He proposed the first generalized statement about cells that stated, " a cell is the basic unit of life." He disproved the previous models of the cell theory because he proved that plants and animals aren't fundamentally different in structure. -
Rudolf Virchow
Virchow made his discovery by studying the work of Theodor Schwann. He confirmed that new cells can be produced only by dividing already existing cells. This disproved Scwann's theory that new cells are created from a fluid named blastema.
