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Robert Hooke
Hooke was the first person to notice cells. He did this by examining a piece of cork under a microscope, where he saw the dead cell walls from the plant from which the cork was made from. Hooke's findings lead to the doubting of spontaneous generation, since Hooke showed what exactly made up life, cells, which lead to the studying of cells and Virchow eventually finding that these cells that Hooke discovered actually produce new cells. -
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
Leeuwenhoek discovered protozoa and bacteria. He made these discoveries in several ways. One way was looking at the top of lake water using a microscope, he saw "green streaks" floating. He also observed the plaque on his teeth and saw bacteria, or small "animalcules" moving. He improved Hooke's discovery of the cell since he saw living single-celled organisms. -
Robert Brown
Brown named the cell nucleus, since he was not the first person to observe a nucleus, but he named the nucleus. He was a botanist who was studying fertilization mechanisms in plants when he noticed a structure found within the cells of several plants, which he named the nucleus. He published his findings in 1833. Brown improved the cell theory since he discovered that in every cell there is a nucleus. -
Matthias Schleiden
Schleiden stated that all parts of plants are made up of cells. He was a professor of botany who used microscopes to study plant structure when he made this discovery. Schleiden improved the previous model by Brown because not only do all cells have a nucleus, but thanks to Schleiden it was known that all plants were made of cells. -
Theodor Schwann
Schwann stated that all animals are made of cells. Encouraged by Schleiden's discovery, Schwann began to question whether animals are made of cells as are plants. He studied physiology and found that animals are made of cells, which he published in 1839. His finding that animals are made out of cells, not only plants, proved that all organisms are made of cells. -
Rudolf Virchow
Virchow stated the last part of the cell theory, that cells come from pre-existing cells. While researching at the University of Wurzburg, he made his discovery that disproved Schwann's statement that cells come from the blastema fluid. -
Citations
"Antony Van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)." Antony Van Leeuwenhoek. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. "Robert Brown." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. "Theodor Schwann." Famous Scientists. famousscientists.org. 6 May 2016. Web. 10/6/2016
http://www.famousscientists.org/theodor-schwann/. "Rudolf Virchow." Famous Scientists. famousscientists.org. 15 Oct. 2015. Web. 10/6/2016
http://www.famousscientists.org/rudolf-virchow/. -
Citations
"Matthias Jacob Schleiden." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. "Cell Theory." Csun.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. Leeuwenhoek's Cell. Digital image. Cerebromente.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. Brown's Cell. Digital image. Bigpictureeducation.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. Virchow's Cell. Digital image. Sluh.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. -
Citations
Hooke's Cell. Digital image. Wikimedia.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. Schleiden's Cell. Digital image. Blogspot.com, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. McPheeters, Matthe. "History and Development of Cell Theory." Khan Academy. Khan Academy, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
