BIOL 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Theodor Schwann, Botany, Animalcule
Document Summary
Cells are so small they weren"t discovered until the invention of the microscope in the 17th century. Robert hook: english natural philosopher, first to observe cells in 1665, named them. Dutch anton van leeuwenhoek: another early microscopist, first observed living cells which he named animalcules or little animals. Matthias schleiden: german botanist, in 1838 he states that all plants of fully individualized, independent, separate beings, namely the cells themselves. (credited with cell theory) Speculated that cells are living entities and plants are aggregates of cells. Theodor schwann: german physiologist, in 1839 reported that all animal tissues also consist of individual cells, then the cell theory was born (credited with cell theory) Cell theory explained that all organisms are composed of cells. People believe cells just appeared in early life, but now only form from previous cells. Life on early is just a continuous descent from those early cells.
