Question

In 1665, Robert Hooke, an English scientist, published his book Micrographia, in which he described that pieces of cork viewed under a microscope presented small cavities, similar to pores and filled with air. Based on knowledge discovered later on, what do you think those cavities were composed of? What is the historical importance of this observation?

Answer 1

Robert Hooke was a scientist as well as phylosopher from England and he was the first person who applied the word 'cell ' to describe the basic unit of life.The cavities which he observed under the microscope was actually plant cells.To be more precise,Robert Hook had been veiwing the cell walls in cork tissues.

Even though he observed the cell but he was not able to distingush other components of the cells like oganelles. Later on, Anton Van Leeuwenkhoek contribute by observing living cells under microscope. In 1838, Schleiden and Schwann proposed the cell theory denoting that all known living organism are made of cells, It is structural and functional unit of life and all cells arise from pre-existing cells.