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Hooke
Englishman Robert Hooke discovered and gave the name to cells. He was also the first to view non-living cells. Hooke made a microscope that magnified 50x and used it to look at a nonliving, thin slice of a cork (a plant material). He observed that this cork had thousands of empty chambers, which he called "cells" because they reminded him of a monestary's tiny rooms (called cells). There was no proof of the existance of cells prior to Hooke's discovery, so there was no theory to disprove. -
Leeuwenhoek
In Holland, Leeuwenhoek used a single-lens microscope to observe pond water and other things. The microscope revealed a fantastic world of tiny, living organisms that seemed to be everywhere in the water that he and his neighbors drank, and even his own mouth. He observed living cells and called some of them 'animalcules.' Some of the small 'animalcules' are now called bacteria (single-cell organisms). -
Dutrochet
Dutrochet was first to say that the cell is the key element of the organization of life. Whilst viewing and comparing multiple specimens through a microscope, Dutrochet dicovered that all cells have a similar structure and are similarly organized. This did not disprove any previous theories, it did, however, expand on the previous theories. -
Dujardin
Dujardin dicovered that cells are filled cytoplasm while he was studying the information of Leeuwenhoek. He is credited with the discovery of the protoplasm. Dujardin disproved the existing theory by discovering that cells are not hollow like Hooke thought. Dujardin discovered that many organisms are made of a single cell. -
Schleiden
German botanist Matthias Schleiden concluded that all plants are made of cells. He discovered this he studied many species of plants, expanding upon the cell theory by recognizing that all plants are made of cells. -
Schwann
German biologist Schwann concluded that all animals are made of cells. He made this discovery through his studies of anatomy and physiology. The combination of this discovery and Schleiden's discovery about plants proved that all living things are made of cells, futher expanding on the cell theory. -
Virchow
German physician Rudolf Virchow concluded that new cells can be produced only from the division of existing cells (aka binary fission, which confirmed a suggestion made 50 years earlier by Lorenz Oken). He discovered this through his education.
