Download The History of the Cell Theory

History of the Cell Theory
Robert Hook 1665
• Robert Hook (1665)
• First person to describe
cells.
• He looked at a slice of
cork under his
microscope and saw tiny
little boxes that
reminded him of the
cells (bedrooms) that
he saw at a monastery.
• The word cell means
“little room” in Latin.
Anton von Leewenhoek 1673
• Leewenhoek was a Dutch
merchant and scientist.
• He made a microscope
and took a look at pond
scum.
• He saw small organisms
in the water and named
them animalcules which
means “little animals.”
• Leewenhoek was also the
first person to discover
bacteria by looking at his
own teeth scrapings!
• Ewwwwwwww!
Matthias Schleiden 1838
• Schleiden was a botanist.
Botany is the study of
plants.
• In 1838 he concluded
that all plants are made
of cells.
Theodor Schwann 1839
• Schwann was a
zoologist. Zoology is
the study of animals.
• He concluded that all
animals are made of
cells.
• Schwann wrote the
first two parts of the
cell theory:
1. All organisms are
made of one or more
cells.
2. The cell is the basic
unit of all living
things.
Rudolf Virchow 1858
• Virchow was a German
doctor.
• He concluded that cells
could form only from other
cells.
• Free forming/spontaneously
generated cells did not
exist.
• He wrote the third part of
the cell theory:
3. All cells come from
existing cells.
The Cell Theory
• All organisms are made up of
one or more cells.
• The cell is basic unit of all
living things.
• All cells come from existing
cells.
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-wacky-historyof-cell-theory