Editing Cell theory (section)

== Discovery of cells ==

[[File:Cork Micrographia Hooke.png|thumb|upright|Drawing of the structure of [[Cork cambium|cork]] by [[Robert Hooke]] that appeared in ''[[Micrographia]]'']]

The cell was first discovered by [[Robert Hooke]] in 1665, which can be found to be described in his book ''[[Micrographia]]''. In this book, he gave 60 observations in detail of various objects under a coarse, compound microscope. One observation was from very thin slices of bottle [[Cork cambium|cork]]. Hooke discovered a multitude of tiny pores that he named "cells". This came from the Latin word ''Cella'', meaning ‘a small room’ like monks lived in, and also ''Cellulae'', which meant the six-sided cell of a honeycomb. However, Hooke did not know their real structure or function. What Hooke had thought were cells, were actually empty cell walls of plant tissues. With microscopes during this time having a low magnification, Hooke was unable to see that there were other internal components to the cells he was observing. Therefore, he did not think the "cellulae" were alive. His cell observations gave no indication of the [[Cell nucleus|nucleus]] and other [[organelle]]s found in most living cells. In ''Micrographia'', Hooke also observed mould, bluish in color, found on leather. After studying it under his microscope, he was unable to observe "seeds" that would have indicated how the mould was multiplying in quantity. This led to Hooke suggesting that spontaneous generation, from either natural or artificial heat, was the cause. Since this was an old [[Aristotelian physics|Aristotelian theory]] still accepted at the time, others did not reject it and was not disproved until [[Anton van Leeuwenhoek|Leeuwenhoek]] later discovered that generation was achieved otherwise.<ref name="Gest">{{Cite journal |last1=Gest |first1=H. |year=2004 |title=The discovery of microorganisms by Robert Hooke and Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek, fellows of the Royal Society |journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=187–201 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.2004.0055 |pmid=15209075 |s2cid=8297229}}</ref>

[[Anton van Leeuwenhoek]] is another scientist who saw these cells soon after Hooke did. He made use of a microscope containing improved lenses that could magnify objects 270-fold. Under these microscopes, Leeuwenhoek found motile objects. In a letter to [[The Royal Society]] on October 9, 1676, he states that [[motility]] is a quality of life therefore these were living organisms. Over time, he wrote many more papers which described many specific forms of [[microorganisms]]. Leeuwenhoek named these "[[animalcules]]," which included [[protozoa]] and other unicellular organisms, like [[bacteria]]. Though he did not have much formal education, he was able to identify the first accurate description of red blood cells and discovered bacteria after gaining interest in the sense of taste that resulted in Leeuwenhoek to observe the tongue of an ox, then leading him to study "pepper water" in 1676. He also found for the first time the [[sperm cells]] of animals and humans. Once discovering these types of cells, Leeuwenhoek saw that the fertilization process requires the sperm cell to enter the [[egg cell]]. This put an end to the previous theory of [[spontaneous generation]]. After reading letters by Leeuwenhoek, Hooke was the first to confirm his observations that were thought to be unlikely by other contemporaries.<ref name="Gest" />

Cells in animal tissues were observed later than those in plants because their [[Tissue (biology)|tissues]] are fragile and difficult to study. Biologists believed that there was a fundamental unit to life, but until [[Henri Dutrochet]] were unclear what it was. Besides stating “the cell is the fundamental element of organization”, Dutrochet claimed that cells were also a physiological unit.<ref>Dutrochet, Henri (1824) [https://books.google.com/books?id=KwQOAAAAQAAJ "Recherches anatomiques et physiologiques sur la structure intime des animaux et des vegetaux, et sur leur motilite, par M.H. Dutrochet, avec deux planches"]</ref>

In 1804, [[Karl Rudolphi]] and [[Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link|J. H. F. Link]] were awarded the prize for "solving the problem of the nature of cells", meaning they were the first to prove that cells had independent [[cell walls]] by the [[University of Göttingen|Königliche Societät der Wissenschaft]] (Royal Society of Science), Göttingen.<ref>[http://www.mathnat.uni-rostock.de/geschichte/kalenderblatt/kalenderblatt-dezember-2013/ Kalenderblatt Dezember 2013 – Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät – Universität Rostock]. Mathnat.uni-rostock.de (2013-11-28). Retrieved on 2015-10-15.</ref> Before, it had been thought that cells shared walls and the fluid passed between them this way.