Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?


The cell theory is one of the foundational tenets of biology and explains the relationship between cells and living things

Development of this theory occurred largely as a result of advancements in the field of microscopy


Cell Theory Timeline

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?


Zacharias Janssen

Time:  1590

•  Invented the first compound microscope

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?


Robert Hooke

Time:  1665

•  Used light microscope to look at thin slices of plant tissue (cork)

•  Saw tiny chambers and coined the term ‘cell’

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?


Anton van Leeuwenhoek

Time:  1673

•  First to see living microscopic organisms (in pond water)

•  Termed these microorganisms ‘animalcules’

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?


Matthias Schleiden

Time:  1838

•  Concluded that:  “All living plants are made of cells”

•  Credited for developing first two tenets of cell theory (with Schwann)

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?


Theodore Schwann

Time:  1839

•  Concluded that:  “All living animals are made of cells”

•  Credited for developing first two tenets of cell theory (with Schleiden)

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?


Rudolph Virchow

Time:  1855

•  Concluded that:  “Where a cell exists, there must have been a pre-existing cell”

•  Credited for developing the third tenet of the cell theory

TED-Ed:  The Wacky History of the Cell Theory  (Lauren Royal-Woods)

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?

Who discovered that animals were made of cells, which contributed to the development of cell theory?

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Who discovered that animals were made of cells which contributed to the development of cell theory 1 point?

The classical cell theory was proposed by Theodor Schwann in 1839. There are three parts to this theory. The first part states that all organisms are made of cells. The second part states that cells are the basic units of life.

Which scientists helped contribute to the development of the cell theory?

Credit for developing cell theory is usually given to three scientists: Theodor Schwann, Matthias Jakob Schleiden, and Rudolf Virchow. In 1839, Schwann and Schleiden suggested that cells were the basic unit of life.

What did Robert Hooke discover about the cell theory?

While observing cork through his microscope, Hooke saw tiny boxlike cavities, which he illustrated and described as cells. He had discovered plant cells! Hooke's discovery led to the understanding of cells as the smallest units of life—the foundation of cell theory.

What did Rudolf Virchow discover in the cell theory?

Rudolf Carl Virchow lived in nineteenth century Prussia, now Germany, and proposed that omnis cellula e cellula, which translates to each cell comes from another cell, and which became a fundamental concept for cell theory.