Development of Cell Theory

In 1665 Robert Hooke observed the structure of thinly sliced cork under an early microscope. He described the compartments he saw as cells.In the mid to late 1600s Anton van Leeuwenhoek hand-crafted a microscope and used it to observe microorganisms, red blood cells, sperm cells and muscle fibres.Cell division in plants was observed under the microscope, Robert Brown described the nucleus of a plant cell.Theodor Schwann is credited with the birth of cell theory around 1837. He stated that:"all living things are composed of cells and cell products."