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Hooke
Robert Hooke was the first person to see the cell. He discovered the way the cells in a cork were arranged and introduced the term "cell" into the science world. Robert Hooke was, in fact, not a scientist but a monk who described the cellular composition of the cork to be similar to that of monasteries which is how the word cell came to be. -
Hooke (continued)
Hooke believed that cells were empty because they resembled empty rooms. However, Leeuwenhoek discovered that the cells actually contained "globuls", which scientists believe as the first signs of the cell nuclei. -
Leeuwenhoek
Leeuwenhoek is credited with being the first to see living cells and to create the microscope which could magnify 250x rather than Hooke's 50x. Leeuwenhoek was not a scientist but a cloth merchant. While using a magnifying lens to view the stitching of cloth, he was inspired by Hooke's book over his previous discoveries, thus leading to Leeuwenhoek to discover bacteria, protists, and cheek cells by studying his saliva.He further observed composition of cells and discovered globuls (inside cells) -
Leeuwenhoek (continued)
Leeuwenhoek was disporved by Dujarden when he proved that the inside of a cell did not contain what he called globels, but instead was consisted of a nucleus and cytoplasm that he collectively referred to as protoplasm. -
Dujardin
Felix Dujardin is credited for putting single-celled organisms into one group. He called them Rhizopoda which means "rootfeet". Today, this group is referred to as protozoans. Dujardin also studied Leeuwenhoek's globules and came to conclude that it is cytoplasm and the cell's nucleus which he named "protoplasm". His study of flatworms, later, also established the grounding for parasitology. -
Dutrochet
Henri Dutrochet is credited with discovering the vitality of green pigment in the use of carbon dioxide by plant cells. Dutrochet formulated one of the tenets of the modern cell theory by declaring that "The cell is the fundamental element of organization." By constucting an osmometer, he was able to detect the heat production of muscular tissues showing the importance of cells in the functioning of a plant. -
Schleiden
Schleiden, unlike Schwann, believed that the cell came from other cells. the statement that cells came from other cells is one of the tenets of the modern cell theory. He also established that plant growth came from the addition of new cells from which he acquired by studying previous theories and findings about the cell. Later, Schwann published a book discussing the same concept, but applied it to animals. -
Schwann
Schwann is credited for declaring that animals and plants are both made up from the same unit of life. He came to this conclusion by stuyding the research of many different scientists who studied under the microscope. His claim set the foundation for biology and made the cell a major focus for years ahead. He believed that cells formed by the crystallization of inanimate material inside the cell. -
Schwann (continued)
Schwann was proven wrong by Virchow when he confirmed that cells form from the division of existing cells. -
Virchow
Virchow is credited with confirming that new cells only form from the division of existing cells. He expanded on the work of Robert Remak by giving lectures and writing an editorial. His work was based off insight of other works. He is also known for discovering that the whole body does not get sick but individual or groups of cells do.This led to major medicine advancements. Today, he is proven to have been correct.
