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1500 BCE
Ancient Egyptians-All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
Along with the creation of pyramids, Ancient Egyptians also made huge strides in the field of biology. Mummies aren't just a cultural symbol for Ancient Egypt, they were spectacular feats of modern cell theory. Ancient Egyptian scientists theorized the idea of some sort of building block of life. When mummifying bodies they would remove vital organs and put them in canopic jars which would seal all outside air thus not letting diseased cells to form from healthy ones. -
400
Medieval Europeans-All living organisms are composed of one or more cells.
Although Medieval Europeans did not make many extreme advancements to cell theory, one man named Jiří Procháska theorized that there were different “cells” in the brain. -
Robert Hooke-All living organisms are composed of one or more cells.
Robert Hooke was born on July 18th, 1635 in Freshwater England. Hooke created his own microscope and published what he saw under the microscope in his book Micrographia. Hooke coins the name “cell” after inspecting a piece of cork under his microscope saying it looked like a bunch of the little rooms where monks live which were called cells. Hooke's discoveries led to the creation of cell theory as a whole. -
Francesco Redi-All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
Francesco Redi was born in Italy in 1626. He did not accept the theory of spontaneous generation so he made an experiment to test this magical claim. Redi placed rotting meat in two jars, one was covered with cloth while the other was left open. His hypothesis was that if the jar was sealed, it would produce no flies. Sure enough, he was correct. -
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek-A cell is the basic structural and functional unit of living organisms. Contributed to the whole of cell theory
Anton van Leeuwenhoek was born on October 24th 1632 in Delft, Dutch Republic. He examined red blood cells under his microscope and discovered the nucleus of the cells. He contributed to the idea that cells were the basic building blocks of life. -
Lazzaro Spallanzani-All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
Lazzaro Spallanzani was born on January 12th, 1729 in Scandiano Italy. Spallanzani discovered that sealing food and not letting air get to it, could kill off any microbes from the air that spoil food. For his experiment he put boiled broth in two flasks, one was sealed and one was left open. The results from this experiment went exactly as expected, the sealed broth didn't spoil and the open broth spoiled. -
Jean Baptiste Lamarck-All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck was born on August 1st, 1744 in Bazentin, France. Lamarck was a pioneer in the field of evolution producing information on the topic before the notorious Charles Darwin. During his time studying evolution he foreshadowed the discoveries of Schwann and Schleiden stating that, “no body can have life if its constituent parts are not cellular tissue or are not formed by cellular tissue.” His statement further contributed to the idea that all cells arise from pre-existing cells. -
Louis Pasteur-All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
Louis Pasteur was born on December 27th, 1822 in Dole, France. Much like Redi, Pasteur did not believe in the magical and faulty idea of spontaneous generation. Pasteur formed a similar experiment to Redi and finalized the disproving of spontaneous generation and supporting the final idea of cell theory, all cells arise from pre-existing cells. -
Robert Brown-all living organisms are composed of cells.
Robert Brown was born on December 21st, 1773 in Montrose, Scotland. Brown discovered the plant nuclei after examining erratic movement of pollen grains while they were in water. This led him to propose that all animals and plants consist of cells. -
Theodor Schwann-proposed classical cell theory, All living organisms are composed of one or more cells.
Theodor Schwann was born on December 7th, 1810 in Neuss Prussia. After examining animal tissue, Schwann came to the conclusion that all animals are composed of cells. He came to the conclusion after examining different types of animal tissues such as nails, fethers, and tooth enamel. -
Matthias Schleoden-All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
Mattias Schleoden was born on April 5th, 1804 in Hamburg Germany. Schleoden was a botany professor at the University of Jena. He knew that plants had cells and had a premature hypothesis on mitosis. He believed that since the plants had cells containing a nucleus, the old cells would produce new cells thus growing the plant. This contributed to the idea that all cells came from preexisting cells. -
Rudolf Virchow-cells only come from other cells.
Rudolf Virchow was born on October 13th, 1821 in Schivelbein, Prussia. He discovered that a complete organism does not get sick, but only certain cells get affected, which is now called cellular pathology. Virchows claims that all diseased tissue derives from healthy tissue further strengthens the idea that all cells come from other cells. -
How does the formation of the cell theory over time illustrate the nature of science?
Every scientist had a very different experience with their contribution to cell theory. Some of the earlier scientists had to conduct their experiments in secret locations because people thought science was a form of witchcraft. The nature of science is a lot of using what you have and making great findings from it. For example Robert Hooke made his own microscope and it turned out to be a major factor in the creation of cell theory as a whole. -
Three Principles of Cell Theory
All living organisms are composed of one or more cells.
A cell is the basic structural and functional unit of living organisms.
All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
