-
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke, an English scientist, first observed and discovered the cell. Hooke sliced a cork thinly, placed it under a microscope and saw the dead plant cells that made up the cork. He drew the cells and also coined the word "cell" because the cells reminded him of little rooms. This was a new breakthrough in science because Hooke's discovery, people had no idea what organisms were made of and what a cell even was. -
Period: to
Development of Cell Theory
-
Antoine van Leeuwenhoek
Antoine van Leeuwenhoek was the first scientist to discover single celled organisms. Leeuwenhoek examined bacteria and protozoa using a microscope. For bacteria, Leeuwenhoek used the plaque of his teeth and observed it under a microscope. He saw the bacteria and called them animalcules. For protozoa, Leeuwenhoek collected algae, examined it under a microscope, and saw protists. This built upon Hooke's theory of cells by the discovery of unicellar organisms. It proved cells can be single and live -
Robert Brown
Robert Brown discovered and named the cell nucleus. Brown used one of the very first light microscopes to examine plant cells. Using the microscope, Brown observed the nucleus of the cell and named the organelle. This looked more in depth of what made up a cell and functions of a cell. Before Brown's discovery, people did not know what cells were made of and how it worked. -
Matthias Scheilden
Matthias Scheilden concluded all plant were made of cells. Scheilden was a botanist and viewed plant tissues under a microscope. Finally, he realized all of the plant tissues he had looked at were made of cells and concluded that all plants were composed of cells. Scheilden co authored the cell theory that all organism were made of cells and the cell was the basic unit of life. Before the cell theory,it wasn't known if cells were present in specific or all organisms. -
Theodor Schwann
Theodor Schwann was another co-author of the cell theory and concluded all animals and plants were made up of cells. He also traced the development of adult tissues from embryo stages. Schwann observed animal cells and grouped cells into three generalizations: organisms consist of cells, cells are independent, and cells are important to the organism's life. Schwann added on to the cell theory by stating living tissue is made up of cells. He also believed cells were the basic unit of life. -
Rudolf Virchow
Rudolf Virchow completed the cell theory with the discovery that cells came from preexisting cells, rather than "Free Cell Formation"(spontaneous generation). Though some of his work was stolen from Robert Remak, Virchow also demonstrated how the cell theory relates to diseases. He stated that diseased cells came from healthy cells. Disease didn't change the whole organism, but only groups of cells were affected. The completion of the cell theory disprove the "Free Cell Formation". -
Bibliography
Hooke:
Waggoner, Ben "Robert Hooke" Berkeley National History Museum of Paleontology, University of California, July 5th, 1995 www.ucmp.berkely.edu/history/hooke.html
Leeuwenhoek:
Waggoner, Ben "Antony van Leeuwenhoek" Berkeley National History Museum of Paleontology,University of California, August 25th,1996 http://www.ucmp.berkely.edu/history/leeuwenhoek.html -
Bibliography
Brown:
(No Shown Author)"Robert Brown" Encyclopedia Britannica Online,Encyclopedia Britannica, February,18th, 2015 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Brown-Scottish-botanist
Scheilden:
(No Shown Author) "Matthias Jacob Schleiden" Encyclopedia Britannica Online,Encyclopedia Britannica, April 25th, 2007 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matthias-Jacob-Schleiden -
Bibliography
Schwann:
(No Author Shown) "Theodor Schwann" Encyclopedia.com, HighBeam Research, October 5th, 2015 http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/cell-biology-biographies/theodor-schwann
Virchow:
(No Author Shown) "Rudolf Virchow" Encyclopedia Britannica Online,Encyclopedia Britannica, April 25th, 2007 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodor-Schwann
