Cell Theory Discoverers

Cell Theory Discoverers

Student: Ana Waleska Hernandez

Teacher: Melissa Owen

Class: Biology

Tenth Grade

Date: 5 – 11 – 2015

Comayagua, Comayagua

Introduction

In biology, cell theory is a scientific theory which describes the properties of cells. These cells are the basic unit of structure in all organisms. With continual improvements made to microscopes, the magnification technology advanced enough to discover cells in the 17th century.

The most attributed scientist in this discovery is Robert Hooke who began the scientific study of cells. A century later, many debates about cells began between scientists. The actual cell theory was eventually formulated in 1838. This is credited to Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann. However, many other scientists like Rudolf Virchow contributed to the theory.

Cell theory has become the foundation of biology and is the most widely accepted explanation of how cells function. The three main ideas in the cell theory are as described below:

1. All living organisms are composed by cells.

2. The cell is the basic unit of structure and organization in organisms.

3. Cells come from preexisting cells.

Robert Hooke

Personal Life and Superior Education: Robert Hooke is known as a "Renaissance Man" of 17th century in England for his work in the sciences, which covered areas such as astronomy, physics and biology. Robert Hooke was born in the town of Freshwater, on England’s Isle of Wight, on July 18, 1635. His parents were John Hooke, and Cecily Hooke. After his father’s death in 1648, Hooke was sent to London to be the apprentice of the painter Peter Lely. Then he went to study at London’s Westminster School. In 1653, Hooke enrolled at Oxford's Christ Church College, which he pay by working as an assistant to the scientist Robert Boyle. Hooke was appointed curator of experiments for the Royal Society of London in 1662, a position he obtained with Boyle's support. In 1665, he accepted a position as professor of geometry at Gresham College in London. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Jan_Baptist_van_Helmont_portrait.jpg

Major Discoveries and Achievements: He became a true polymath; the topics Hooke covered during his career include comets, the motion of light, and the rotation of Jupiter, gravity, human memory and the properties of air. In all of his studies, he used the scientific method of experimentation and observation. Hooke´s most important publication, Micrographia, in 1665; a book documenting experiments he had made with a microscope. In this study, he coined the term "cell" while discussing the structure of cork. He also described flies, feathers and snowflakes, and correctly identified fossils as remnants of once-living things. In 1678 he did another publication, Lectures of Spring, where he shared his theory of elasticity; in what came to be known as "Hooke’s Law," he stated that the force required to extend or compress a spring is proportional to the distance of that extension or compression. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/hooke/images/micrographia1st.jpg

Elder Life and Death: Hooke never married. His niece, Grace Hooke, his longtime live-in companion and housekeeper, as well as his eventual lover, died in 1687. Hooke's career was marred by arguments with other prominent scientists. In his last year of life, Hooke suffered from symptoms that may have been caused by diabetes. He died at the age of 67 in London on March 3, 1703.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Beginnings

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was born on October 24, 1632, in the small city of Deflt in the Dutch Republic. His father was Philips Antonisz van Leeuwenhoek, a basket maker. His mother was Margaretha Bel van dens Berch, whose family were beer brewers. Antonie’s early life was rather tough: his father died when he was just five years old. His mother remarried, and Antonie spent some time living with an uncle. His uncle was a lawyer and helped Antonie with basic literacy and numeracy, reinforcing the education he had received in local schools. By the time Antonie was 16 his step-father had also died. Antonie learned no languages other than Dutch, which suggests he was never expected to go to university. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Business Career

In 1648, at the age of 16, Leeuwenhoek moved to the famous Dutch trading city of Amsterdam to begin work in a textile shop. In 1654, aged 21, he returned to Delft, where he would spend the rest of his long life. Not only did he return to his hometown, but he got married, and, putting his business experience in Amsterdam into practice, he opened his own textile shop in Delft. In addition to cloth he sold buttons, ribbons, and other accessories. While running his shop and working for the city of Delft, Leeuwenhoek became a qualified land surveyor at about 40 years of age, just before he started his scientific work.

Discoveries

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the father of microbiology. He learned how to make his own unique microscopes. Using these microscopes he made a number of important scientific discoveries, including single-celled animals and plants, bacteria, and spermatozoa. Leeuwenhoek’s biological discoveries were completely dependent on his ability to make lenses of extraordinarily high quality.

Single-Celled Life: In 1674, aged 41, Leeuwenhoek made the first of his great discoveries: single-celled life forms. Nowadays these organisms are grouped with the protists – these are mainly single-celled plants and animals. The Royal Society refused to believe in the existence of Leeuwenhoek’s microscopic creatures. It took until 1677 before their existence was fully accepted. This happened after Robert Hooke returned to his microscopes, and