The Cell Theory

Vocabulary flashcards covering the history, discovery, and fundamental principles of Cell Theory and Modern Cell Theory.

Robert Hooke

English Scientist who discovered cells in $1665$ while looking at a thin slice of cork and described them as tiny boxes or a honeycomb.

Anton van Leuwenhoek

Scientist who used a handmade microscope in $1673$ to observe pond scum and blood cells, discovering single-celled organisms.

Animalcules

The name Anton van Leuwenhoek gave to the single-celled organisms he discovered in pond scum.

Spontaneous Generation

A widely accepted traditional belief that living things could arise from non-living matter, such as mice from dirty clothes or maggots from rotting meat.

Louis Pasteur

The scientist who conclusively disproved the belief in Spontaneous Generation during the $19^{th}$ century.

Matthias Schleiden

German Botanist who concluded in $1838$ that all plant parts are made of cells.

Theodor Schwann

German physiologist who stated in $1839$ that all animal tissues are composed of cells.

Rudolf Virchow

German physician who concluded in $1858$ that cells must arise from preexisting cells after studying cellular pathology.

First Principle of Cell Theory

All organisms are composed of one or more cells.

Second Principle of Cell Theory

The cell is the basic unit of life in all living things.

Third Principle of Cell Theory

All cells are produced by the division of preexisting cells.

Modern Cell Theory (DNA)

States the cell contains hereditary information ($DNA$) which is passed on from cell to cell during cell division.

Modern Cell Theory (Composition)

States all cells are basically the same in chemical composition and metabolic activities.

Sub-cellular structures

Includes organelles, the nucleus, and the plasma membrane, upon which all cell activity depends.

Cellular Average in Humans

An average human being is composed of around $100$ Trillion individual cells.