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Robert Hooke
In 1653, Robert Hooke was the first person to see thin spaces contained by walls and he called them pores, or cells. While Hooke was viewing different specimens through a new microscope, when Hooke looked at a wooden cork he noticed the the spaces that he named cells. No other knowledge of cells existed before Robert Hooke's important discovery. -
Anton Von Leeuwenhoek
In 1674, Anton Von Leeuwenhoek made the discovery of sing-celled organisms (bacteria). While looking at a sample of pond water through Leeuwenhoek's refined microscope, Anton discovered dozens of protists and also saw spyrogyra. Prior to Anton's discovery of these living cells, there was only knowledge that there were cells based on Hooke's discoveries. Leeuwenhoek was able to increase knowledge about the cells and extend upon Hooke's discoveries. -
Henri Dutrochet
In 1824, Henri Dutrochet said that cells are the fundamental element of organization. Dutrochet's ideas are more intuitive anticipations rather than conclusions based on his observations. His experiements and observations weren't always the best but his observations were important in saying that all living things are made of cells. While previously scientists didn't have this knowledge. -
Felix Dujardin
In 1835, while Dujardin was studying organisms under a microscope, he realized that cells are not hollow and termed the jellylike material in animal cells as sarcode, which later became known as protoplasm. He improved knowledge of the cell by showing that there are different parts of a cell (cells have organization). -
Theodor Schwann
In 1839, Theodor Schwann proved that animals are made up of cells. While Schwann was observing adult tissue, he was able to trace back the development of these tissues to embryo stages. Recent work of Schleiden showed that plants have cells and Schwann was able to add on to that theory and proved that animal tissue is made up of cells also. -
Matthias Schleiden
In 1839, Matthias Schleiden was able to prove that all plants are made up of cells. While observing plant specimen under a microscope, Schleiden noticed all of the small parts that the plant was made of and came to the conclusion that these were cells that made up the plant. Schleiden and Schwann worked together to find out that all plants and animals are made up of cells. -
Rudolph Virchow
In 1858, Rudolph Virchow said that all cells come from pre-existing cells. Virchow was able to use study the work of other scientists to publish his statement that all cells come from pre-existing cells. Rudolph used the work of Robert Remak and popularized it with different publishments and statements. Previous models had no indications that cells come from other cells so with his idea he was able to be one of the final contributors to the cell theory.
