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Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke contribution to the cell theory is his discovery of the cell itself. He discovered the cell in 1665.. His discovery was made after viewing a thin slice of a cork under a primitive microscope with a 50x view. The reasoning behind why Hooke called his discovery a cell is because, due to the cells being dead, he only saw the cell wall. As a result, he thought they appeared as the small closed in space a monk would live in, thus granting it the name. -
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
Not only did Leeuwenhoek improve microscopes drastically, he also used his much more perfected lenses to make major discoveries. These range from discovering sperm in mammals, to possibly the most important discovery he made: finding single celled organisms. After observing pond water under a microscope in 1674, Leeuwenhoek observed thousands of protists and spirogyra. Unlike Hooke, Leeuwenhoek was able to observe live cells,thus giving a much better insight to the scientific community. -
Henri Dutrochet
Dutrochet discovered osmosis, which is the process of passing solvents through cellular membranes. Dutrochet made this discovery after pursuing education in plant and animal physiology; and was inspired to do this after hearing that both plant and animal cells are similar. This 1806 discovery led to a change in the cellular model since it now became known how cells obtained nutrients. -
Felix Dujardin
Although Dujardin did not discover the cell, his observations on it did shape the basis of the cell theory. Dujardin discovered that many living things are not only made up of on cell, but all living cells also have a similar structure. Dujardin observed this after spending time observing cells under a microscope. His model differs from Hooke and Leeuwenhoek because while they discovered cells, Dujardin discovered just how they are similarly organized and how many organisms are single celled. -
Matthias Schleiden
Botonist Matthias Schleiden made the important discovery that plants are made up of cells in 1838. What led to this scientific revelation is the mere fact that since Schleiden was a botonist, it was no coincidence that he discovered cells in plant life. This changed the cell model since now scientists are beginning to grasp that cells are the building blocks of life thanks to this disccovery. -
Theodor Schwann
Theodor Schwann, although he did not discover cells in living things, he did recognize that animal tissue have nuclei structures; which were previously only found in plant tissues by Johannes Muller. After this discovery in 1839, Schwann concluded that all living things are made up of cells and all tissues contain cells. What led to this discovery is him simply examining animal tissue under a microscope. This changes the model since now the scientific community knows that cells make up animals. -
Rudolf Virchow
One of the key components of the cell theory was discovered by Rudolf Virchow in 1855. While conducting experiments with diseases, Virchow disccovered something incredible. He found out that cells come from other cells. This changes the cell model due to the fact that it now shows just how cells are made and where they come from, leading to the formation of the cell theory.