Cell Theory Timeline

First microscope invented by Zacharias Janssen

Nov 10, 1590

Made by Hans and Zachariah Janssen in 1590. Enabled scientist to discover and study cells.

Jan Baptist van Helmont

Nov 11, 1642

Helmont introduced gas to chemistry. He discovered that air was made up of all kinds of different gasses.

Robert Hooke, Micrographia

Jan 1, 1665

Wrote a book called Micrographia. He observed thin pieces of cork.

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek

Nov 11, 1674

Anton Van Leeuwenhoak was first to view bacteria, life in a drop of water, yeast plants, and blood cells circulating in blood vessels.

Robert Brown

Jan 1, 1801

Robert Brown did botanic research in Australia for 3 years collecting about 3400 species.

Lorenz Oken

Jan 1, 1805

Lorenz Oken was a German naturalist and nature philosopher. He published a book where he stated that living things originated from cels.

Theodor Schwann

Jan 1, 1836

Discovered the enzyme Pepsin

Matthias Schleiden

Jan 1, 1838

Schleiden discovered that all plants were made of cells

Rudolf Albert von Kolliker

Nov 11, 1840

Von Kolliker was first to describe tissues as consisting of similar cells.
He helped develop the cell theory that cells only come from other existing cells and can not come from nonliving materials.

Rudolf Virchow

Nov 11, 1855

Virchow got famos for discovering that an entire organism does not get sick only cells or groups of cells get sick

Louis Pasteur

Jan 1, 1862

Louis Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation.

Aristotle

Mar 2, 2022

Aristotle classified organisms into plants or animals. The animals were classified into animals with red blood and animals without red blood.