Question

The history of the cell began in 1665 with the publication of Micrographia in London by
A. Robert Hooke
B. Robert Brown
C. Felix Dujardin
D. None of these

Answer 1

The accurate description of the cell began with the cell theory which stated that all the living organisms are made of cells. Cells are the basic structural and functional unit of all living organisms, and all the cells are produced from pre-existing cells.

Complete answer:
The cell was discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665 which began the history of the cells. Robert Hooke was a scientist who was the first person to observe microorganisms under a microscope. In his book “Micrographia”, he described all his microscopic observations.
He described the cell in his book Micrographia in which he gave about 60 observations about the cells in detail using a compound microscope. He coined the term ‘cell’. The word “cell” was derived from the Latin word “cella” which means a small compartment (such as in honeycomb), thus stating that cells have a similar structure as that of a honeycomb. He observed the cork cells first and concluded that the cells are non-living structures. He did not tell anything about the nucleus and other cell organelles.

Thus the correct option is (A) Robert Hooke.

Additional information: In his book Micrographia, Hooke also described his observations on the bluish-coloured mould that is found in leather and gave his theory about how they multiply from either natural or artificial heat. But later, Anton van Leeuwenhoek who was also a scientist observed these cells using an advanced microscope and found them moving and so, disapproved Hooke’s theory.

Note:
Hooke did not know the real structure of the cell as he did not observe the real cells as what he thought were cells were actually the empty cell walls of the plant tissues. As the magnification of the microscopes of that time was very low, he was not able to observe the internal structure of the cell completely.