Microscopy and the cell concept

Charlotte J. Avers

The invention of the first useful compound microscope, which had two lenses to increase total magnification and reduce optical aberrations, is credited to Z. and H. Janssen, an uncle and nephew. Their microscope, which became available in 1590, could magnify an object 30 times its actual size, without loss of resolution. We credit the first significant information gained by using microscopy to Robert Hooke who published his observations in Micrographia in 1665. Hooke noted the occurrence of ‘cells’ or ‘pores’ in various plant tissues, such as cork from the bark of trees […]. Hooke also observed that cells of the other kinds of tissues were filled with ‘juices’, but the the high visibility of the thick cell wall drew his attention most and continued to be the focus for cell studies by biologist for 150-200 years afterward.

Fonte: Avers, C. J. 1976. Cell biology. NY, Nostrand.