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Chapter 5 · Biology

Discovery of the Cell

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In 1665 a thin slice of cork showed tiny boxes Robert Hooke called cells. Then came living cells (1674) and the nucleus (1831).

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PDF, 174 KB · fill in the blanks, true/false, assertion-reason, MCQ, numericals, short answer, match the columns; detailed solutions at the end Up next in this chapterRobert 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.Biology
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Key points

  • 1665, Robert Hooke: cork, honeycomb-like boxes, named cells (Latin cella, a small room).
  • Hooke's cork cells were dead: only cell walls.
  • 1674, Leeuwenhoek: first living cells, in pond water.
  • 1831, Robert Brown: the nucleus.

1665: cork and the word 'cell'

Hooke's drawing of cork from Micrographia
Hooke's own drawing of cork (Micrographia, 1665).
Diagram of empty cork cells with cell walls
Empty boxes: the walls of dead cells.

1674 and 1831: living cells and the nucleus

With better lenses, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek saw free, moving cells in a drop of pond water in 1674. In 1831 Robert Brown found a round, dense body in orchid cells: the nucleus.

A living cell with nucleus, cytoplasm and membrane
A living cell is not empty: it has a control centre.

The timeline

Timeline from Hooke 1665 to Virchow 1855
From cork to the cell theory.
YearScientistDiscovery
1665Robert HookeCells in cork (dead); named them cells
1674LeeuwenhoekFree-living cells in pond water
1831Robert BrownThe nucleus
1839J. E. PurkinjeNamed the living fluid protoplasm
1838–39Schleiden, SchwannThe cell theory
1855VirchowAll cells arise from pre-existing cells

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More from The Fundamental Unit of Life

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.BiologyCell: 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.BiologyUnicellular 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.Biology