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
Zacharias Janssen
Time: 1590
• Invented the first compound microscope
Robert Hooke
Time: 1665
• Used light microscope to look at thin slices of plant tissue (cork)
• Saw tiny chambers and coined the term ‘cell’
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
Time: 1673
• First to see living microscopic organisms (in pond water)
• Termed these microorganisms ‘animalcules’
Matthias Schleiden
Time: 1838
• Concluded that: “All living plants are made of cells”
• Credited for developing first two tenets of cell theory (with Schwann)
Theodore Schwann
Time: 1839
• Concluded that: “All living animals are made of cells”
• Credited for developing first two tenets of cell theory (with Schleiden)
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)