The Cell and its History
By Jackson Thorn
The cell theory
The cell theory has 4 main parts.
-all living matter composed of cells
-all cells arise from other cells
-cells have hereditary information that is passed to the next generation
-chemical reactions take place within cells
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke first discovered the cell. He looked at dead cork cells and described them as empty rooms. The "rooms" were empty because the cells were dead. Stuff would occupy the "rooms" if the cells lived. He was born on 7/18/1635 and died on 3/3/1703. To the left is a picture of his drawings of the dead cork cells.
Theodor Schwann
Theodor Schwann was a German psychologist. He discovered the digestive enzyme pepsin in 1836. He found out that yeast (stuff used to make bread) were tiny plant-like organisms. He founded the cell theory. Theodor Schwann, expert at microscope, examined animal tissue, specifically working with tadpoles. He was born in 1810 and died in 1882.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
Anton van Leeuwenhoek first got amazed by microscopes when he worked at a dry goods store. The store used magnifying glasses to inspect the quality of cloth. He taught himself new methods of polishing & grinding the glass to give magnifications up to 270x, the best at the time. This all lead to the building of the first practical microscope, which Anton van Leeuwenhoek built. Leeuwenhoek was the first to describe bacteria and teeming life in a drop of plant water. He was born in 1632 and died in 1723.
Matthias Schleiden
Matthias Schleiden studied primary cells in plants. He observed that all plants seemed to be composed of cells, and thus is considered the co-founder of the cell theory, together with Schwann. He was born in 1804 and died in 1881.
Rudolf Virchow
Rudolf Virchow is considered one of the founders of social medicine. He is the first to recognize leukemia cells. He is widely know on his contribution to the cell theory, added on to Schwann's theory.