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Robert Hooke
Created the Hooke Microscope and studied the cell. He is also the one who first introduced the use of the word cell in biology. He studied a piece of cork under his three lens microscope and saw that the cork had small little holes that looked like the cells monks lived in. -
Francesco Redi
Francesco conducted an expirement in an attempt to disprove spontaneous generation. In his expirement he took three jars and put a piece of raw meat inside each of the jars. One jar had an airtight seal, one was sealed with a cloth, and the other was left uncovered. After a few days maggots were found in the open jar while the other two jars were maggot and fly free. -
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek was the first person to study the movement of living cells. He studied animal cells under a microscope and called the "Animalcules" -
John Needham
John Needham was a clergyman who strongly believed in spontaneous generation. He conducted an expirement to prove his point. He took broth and boiled it "getting rid of all the germs". He then left the broth out for a few days. After a bit of time had passed mould and bacteria had started to grow in the broth and he had "proved" his point. -
Robert Brown
Robert Brown was the one who first came up with and studied the nucleus of the cell. He found it while studying the fertilization mechanisms of a plant. -
Felix Dujardin
In 1834 Felix Dujardin came up with a new group of single-celled organisms called protozoans. Around this time people thought that cells had the same organs as everything else. He refuted this theory in 1835. -
Matthias Schleiden
Schleiden studied plant cells under microscopes in 1838. He was the first one to really look into the parts of a cell. He felt that the nuclei that Robert Brown had found had something to do with cell division as well. -
Theodor Schwann
Theodor Schwann co-founded the Cell Theory alongside Matthias Schleiden. While Schleiden studied the plant and it's cells Schwann decided to study living animal cells under a microscope. -
Rudolph Virchow
Rudolph Virchow is most famously credited for his contribution to cell theory. Virchow added on to Schleiden and Schwann's cell theory. His addition was the concept the cells can only be created from pre-existing cells. (Cell Division) -
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur was the first scientist conduct a legitamite expirement to disprove spontaneous generation. In his expiriment he took a bottle and bent the neck into an S-shape to inhibit acces to the broth he put inside. He boiled the broth and let it sit for a few days. When he came back to it the broth had no bacteria or mould visible in it. He broke off the neck and let it sit for another few days. Mould and bacteria quickly began to grow and multiply in the broth.
