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100
Aristotle
The greatest student of biology in the ancient world was the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). His writings include encyclopedialike works on birth, death, the nature of life, and all phases of animal life. He was drawn to animal classification in order to discover aspects of connection between the soul and the human body. Some of his animal classifications still stand today.
Aristotle biography -
100
Ancient Egyptians
Aproximately 1500 B.C.
The Babylonians and Egyptians had some knowledge of human anatomy.The priests who prepared corpses for burial learned a great deal about human anatomy as they removed the vital organs. Yet, their religious beliefs prevented them from dissecting a body anymore than was necessary for mummification; to do otherwise was considered sinful. -
100
Ancient Indians
1500 BC aprox.
One of the oldest organised systems of medicine is known from the Indian subcontinent in the form of Ayurveda which originated around 1500 BCE from Atharvaveda (one of the four most ancient books of Indian knowledge, wisdom and culture).The ancient Indian Ayurveda tradition independently developed the concept of three humours, resembling that of the four humours of ancient Greek medicine, though the Ayurvedic system. -
Period: 100 to
Cell Theory Timeline
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500
Medieval Europeans
5th-15th century
The Middle Ages saw hardly any contributions to biology in Europe. They believed in spontaneous generation, which says that life can appear from nowhere. They made an experiment to prove that: first they buried a pork's leg, then they waited 1 week and finally they unearthed the pork's leg, which had insects in it. -
Dec 31, 1514
Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a Belgian, gave the first accurate and complete description of the human body. He was one of the first scientists since ancient times to dissect a human body.
Andreas Vesalius -
Hans and Zacharias Janssen
Zacharias Janssen was a Dutch spectacle-maker from Middelburg associated with the invention of the first optical telescope. Janssen is sometimes also credited for inventing the first truly compound microscope. However, the origin of the microscope, just like the origin of the telescope, is a matter of debate. -
Robert Hooke
1635-1703
In 1665 Hooke published Micrographia, a book describing observations made with microscopes and telescopes, as well as some original work in biology. Hooke coined the term cell for describing biological organisms, the term being suggested by the resemblance of plant cells to monks' cells. He used a hand-crafted, leather and gold-tooled microscope to make the observations for Micrographia.
He was the first person to use the term "cell". -
Francesco Redi
1626 - 1697
He was the first scientist to challenge the theory of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that maggots come from eggs of flies.
Redi is most well known for his series of experiments, published in 1668 as Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti (Experiments on the Generation of Insects), which is regarded as his masterpiece and a milestone in the history of modern science.
Redi Experiment -
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
1632 - 1723
He is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and considered to be the first microbiologist. He is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology.
1677: First to observe bacteria and protozoa.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek -
John Needham
1713 - 1781
Needham made an experiment that supported the theory of spontaneous generation which is the idea that life occurs spontaneously at the microscopic level without the need for reproduction from pre-existing life. His theory was later disproved by Lazzaro Spallanzani. -
Lazzaro Spallanzani
1729 - 1799
Spallanzani's experiment showed that it is not an inherent feature of matter, and that it can be destroyed by an hour of boiling. As the microbes did not re-appear as long as the material was hermetically sealed, he proposed that microbes move through the air and that they could be killed through boiling.
Lazzaro Spallanzani Experiment -
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
1744 - 1829
He was an early proponent of the idea that evolution occurred and proceeded in accordance with natural laws. He gave the term biology a broader meaning by coining the term for special sciences, chemistry, meteorology, geology, and botany-zoology.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck -
Lorenz Oken
1779 - 1851
Lorenz Oken made a new system of animal classification that demonstrated the path of evolution including:
Dermatozoa: invertabrates.
Glossozoa: fish with the first tongues.
Rhinozoa: reptiles inwhich the nose opens into the mouth and us used for respiration.
Otozoa: birds with the first externally open ears.
Ophthalmozoa: mammals which include all sensory organs. -
Robert Brown
1773 - 1858
He was the first to identify the nucleus (a term that he introduced) as an essential constituent of living cells (1831). Brown recognized the general occurrence of the nucleus in these cells and apparently thought of the organization of the plant in terms of cellular constituents. -
Matthias Schleiden
1804 - 1881
Schleiden preferred to study plant structure under the microscope. While a professor of botany at the University of Jena, he wrote Contributions to Phytogenesis (1838), in which he stated that the different parts of the plant organism are composed of cells.
The Scheleiden Song -
Theodor Schwann
1810 - 1882
His many contributions to biology include the
development of cell theory, the discovery of Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, the discovery and
study of pepsin, the discovery of the organic nature of yeast, and the invention of the term metabolism.He also stated that "All living things are composed of cells and cell products."
Schwann's Life -
Rudolph Vichow
1821 - 1902
He is known as "the father of modern pathology". He was one of the first to accept the work of Robert Remak, who showed the origins of cells was the division of pre-existing cells. When it dawned on him that Remak might be right, in 1855, he published Remak's work as his own. He added to the cell theory the tenet: all cells come from pre-existing cells.
Virchow's contribution to the cell theory -
Louis Pasteur
1822 - 1895
Pasteur's 1862 experiment put to rest the notion that life envolves from nonlife in today's world. His experiments showed that microorganisms come only from other microorganisms and that genuinely sterile solution remains lifeless identify unless contaminated by living creatures. In fact, the sterile broth in Pasteur's swan-neck flask remainded sterile for years after he finished his experiment.
<a href='http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp03/0302003.html' >Pasteur Exper -
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
1852 - 1934
His original pioneering investigations of the microscopic structure of the brain have led him to be designated by many as the father of modern neuroscience. His medical artistry was legendary, and hundreds of his drawings illustrating the delicate arborizations of brain cells are still in use for educational and training purposes.
Santiago Ramon y Cajal, founder of Neuroscience
