Discovery of the cell

The Cell

All living things are made of one or more cells. There are variety of cell types however, they all have some common characteristic features.

More to Know

Can you see a cell with your naked eye?

Cells are very minute and said to be microscopic cannot be seen with our naked eyes.

They can be observed only through a specialized scientific instrument called “microscope”.

Now a days an electron microscope is used to magnify the cells and observe the cells

Discovery of the cell

The Englishman Robert hooke was a scientist, mathematician, and inventor. He improved microscope which was used in those days, and built a compound microscope. He placed water-lens beside the microscope to focus the light from an oil-lamp on specimens to illuminate them brightly. So that he able to see the minute parts of the objects clearly.

One day Hooke made thin sections of the cork and observed them through his microscope. He observed many small identical chambers which were hexagonal in shape. He was surprised.

After that he saw many objects like Butterfly's wings, Bee’s compound eyes etc.,

Based on this observations Hooke published a book named Micrographia in the year 1665, where he first used the term Cell . He describe the structure of tissue using the term cell.

In Latin the word 'cellua' means a small chamber.

The branch of science that deals with the study of cells is called ‘Cell Biology’.