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Robert Hooke
Around the time period of 1663, Hooke discovered a "honey-comb" like structure in a cork slice. Robert Hooke was using a primitive compound microscope. The term cell came from the individual parts of the dead tissue surrounding the cell wall. Robert Hooke disproved the first cell discovery because there was not one before his experimentation with his microscope. -
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
Around the year 1670 and later, Leeuwenhoek used the lenses similar to a magnifying glass and used those lenses to make the first practical microscope. In 1674, Leeuwenhoek saw and described bacteria. After seeing bacteria, Anton van Leeuwenhoek examined a yeast plant, the teeming life of a drop of water, and the circulation of blood corpuscles in capillaries. Leeuwenhoek did not necessarily disprove Hooke's discoveries; rather, Leeuwenhoek added to what Hooke had to offer with a microscope. -
Robert Brown
Through the years 1827-1858, Brown had detailed reports on the cytoplasmic streaming, had recognized the difference between angiosperm and gymnosperm, and named the nucleus of the cell. During the year 1833, Brown focused on the nucleus in plants. Not only did Brown write a detailed report on the nucleus, he also found that the nucleus plays a major role in fertilization and development in the embryo of the plant. Not necessarily was Leeuwenhoek's theories disproved, just a better explanation. -
Theodor Schwann
The years 1834-1838 were crucial to the addition of the cell theory. Theodor Schwann had exposed sterilized broth to heated air in a glass tube, no microorganisms were detected and no chemical change occurred; therefore, the spontaneous generation was disproved. Three generalizations concerning cells were made by Schwann: both animals and plants consist of cells plus the secretion of cells, these cells have independent lives, and all cells are subject to the organism. -
Matthias Schleiden
Following Schwann in 1838-1839, Matthias Schleiden came along and added some more in depth details. Schleiden used the microscope to observe plants and while in he process, he recognized the importance of cells as a fundamental unit of life. Matthias made the connection that the cell nucleus had something to do with the cell division. Even though he had one misconception (nucleus cells erupted on the nucleus surface like blisters), Matthias was still able to mark the beginning of plant cytology. -
Rudolf Virchow
After a few years teaching, Virchow had experienced his greatest accomplishment in 1855; a whole organism does not get sick, just a certain group of cells or an individual cell itself. All diseases involve change in a normal cell. All of these observations are the basis of cellular pathology.
