Video Transcript
Which of the following scientists
is credited with the discovery of microorganisms using primitive microscopes? (A) Virchow, (B) Theodore Schwann,
(C) Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, (D) Matthias Jakob Schleiden.
This question asks us to identify a
scientist who discovered microorganisms, which are small living things that can only
be viewed using magnification from a microscope. These early discoveries helped to
form cell theory, which is made up of three principles. The first is that all living things
are made up of at least one cell. The second is that the cell is the
basic unit of life. And the third principle of cell
theory is that all cells come from preexisting cells.
Let’s review some of the scientists
who contributed to cell theory in order to answer our question correctly. The discoveries related to cell
theory were only made possible after microscopes were first invented in the late
1500s. The word cell was coined by Robert
Hooke in the 1600s after he observed cork under a microscope. Since the structures looked like
tiny rooms, he called them cells from the Latin word cellula, which means small
room. Hooke actually supported and
confirmed another scientist’s work who was named Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, sometimes
called the father of microbiology.
Van Leeuwenhoek was a microscope
enthusiast and made his own primitive microscope, which was basically a powerful
magnifying glass lens that we can see here. He used this microscope to make
many important observations on freshwater protozoa and bacteria scraped from plaque
from his own teeth. He was not trained in the sciences,
but his work was reproduced by Robert Hooke, which gave Van Leeuwenhoek
credibility.
Later, in the 1800s, scientists
Schleiden and Schwann proposed that plants and animals are made up of cells. This contributed to the idea that
all living things are made of one or more cells in cell theory. Then, also in the 1800s, Virchow
proposed that all cells arise from preexisting cells.
After reviewing the different
discoveries that led to cell theory, we should be able to answer our question
correctly. The scientist that is credited with
the discovery of microorganisms using primitive microscopes is given by answer
choice (C), Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.
