Chapter 5 · Biology
The Fundamental Unit of Life
The cell: who discovered it, what it is made of and what each part does.
Start with: Cell: Chapter IntroductionTopics in this chapter
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Cell: Chapter IntroductionYou began as a single cell. Every living thing is built of cells: how they were discovered, what is inside, how they divide, and the cell theory. Watch - 2
Discovery of the CellIn 1665 a thin slice of cork showed tiny boxes Robert Hooke called cells. Then came living cells (1674) and the nucleus (1831). Watch - 3
Robert Hooke and the Discovery of CellsThe man who named the cell left no surviving portrait. Meet Robert Hooke, his book Micrographia, his lamp-lit microscope and his count of cork cells. Watch - 4
Cell TheoryYour body has about 37 trillion cells. Three scientists showed that every living thing is built from cells, and every cell comes from another cell. Watch - 5
Unicellular and Multicellular OrganismsAn amoeba is one cell; you are about 37 trillion. In one, a single cell does everything; in the other, cells share the work. Watch