Essay/Term paper: History of the cell theory

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Science

History of the Cell Theory


Ryan Strehlein

Cells, the make-up of all living things. Some cell are complete
organisms, such as unicellular bacteria and protozoa. Other types of cells are
called multicellular, such as nerve cells and muscle cells. Withen the cell is
genetic material, Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) containing coded instructions for
the behavior and reproduction of the cell. The cell was first discovered by the
1665 English scientist Robert Hooke, who studied the dead cells of cork with a
crude microscope. Robert Hooke was born on the isle of Whight and educated at
the University of Oxford. Hooke could not have discovered the cell without the
microscope which was developed by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek a 1674 Dutch maker of
microscopes. Leeuwenhoek born in Delft, Holland and had little or no scientific
education. Leeuwenhoek also confirmed the discovery of capillary systems.
Theodor Schwann a German physiologist born in Neuss and educated at the
universities of Bonn, Wurzburg, and Berlin, Schwann was involved in the study of
the structure of plant and animal tissues. Along with Matthias Jakob Schleiden
a German botanist, Schwann proposed the cell theory.

The cell theory has three parts:
1. All organisms are composed of cells.
2. Cells are the basic units of structure and function in organisms
3. All cells come from preexisting cells.

The impact on science was very great due to the discovery of cells and
the cell theory. Many or all things were effected by the discovery of cells,
everything was looked upon in a different way. Some people still did not
believe that all living organisms were made of tiny microscopic chambers called
cells. Many people thought that people that believed in cells were insane, some
people even wanted to put Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in an insane asylum because he
believed in cells. As you can see the impact of cells was very great on people.
Other things were discovered due to the discovery of cells, such as the dicovery
of atoms, the make-up of all things on the Earth.