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Before First Cell Was Observed
Before the microscope was invented, there was the "Spontaneous Generation" theory, explaining that life came from inorganic matter. this gave an explanation of how life came to be. -
Robert Hooke
Hooke created the first microscope, which could only magnify by only 50x. Hooke viewed a thin cut of cork, and seen empty spaces, calling them cells, or pores. Hooke had gained credit for discovering the building block of life. -
Anton Van Leewenhoek
He was best known for refining the microscope, being able to make lenses of higher magnification, up to 270x. One of his major discoveries was finding the existence of single-celled organisms while examining pond water, finding dozens protists, calling them animalcules, they were called animalcules for a very long time, until scientists started calling them microorganisms. This discovery created the field of microbiology. -
Robert Brown
Robert Brown coined the term "nucleus" in 1831, in a paper that was published in 1833. He had not known that the nucleus was in both types of cells, but concluded that the nucleus existed only in plant cells. -
Matthias Jacob Schleiden
Schleiden was on of the people to create cell theory, discovering that all plant activity comes from the activity of cells. He explained that structures and morphological features give life its characteristics. -
Theodor Schwann
Schwann discovered the enzyme pepsin, and had suggested that fermentation was a biological process. He found nuclear structures that Schleiden found in plants. Schwann extended the theory to animals and plants, making the claim that all living organisms composed of cells. -
Rudolf Virchow
Virchow discovered that cells form from division, but publishing this information in an editorial, not a scientific journal. The evidence of cell division was first found by Robert Remak, but Virchow tried to popularize Remak's ideas with his political and literary skills.