ROBERT HOOKE

(July 18, 1635 March 03, 1703) In 1655 Hooke was employed by Robert Boyle to construct the Boylean air pump. He discovered his law of elasticity, which states that the stretching of a solid body (e.g., metal, wood) is proportional to the force applied to it. The law laid the basis for studies of stress and strain and for understanding of elastic materials. He applied these studies in his designs for the balance springs of watches. In 1662 he was appointed curator of experiments to the Royal Society of London and was elected a fellow the following year. One of the first men to build a Gregorian reflecting telescope, Hooke discovered the fifth star in the Trapezium, an asterism in the constellation Orion, in 1664 and first suggested that Jupiter rotates on its axis. His detailed sketches of Mars were used in the 19th century to determine that planets rate of rotation. In 1665 he was appointed professor of geometry in Gresham College. In Micrographia (1665; Small Drawings) he included his studies and illustrations of the crystal structure of snowflakes, discussed the possibility of manufacturing artificial fibres by a process similar to the spinning of the silkworm, and first used the word cell to name the microscopic honeycomb cavities in cork. His studies of microscopic fossils led him to become one of the first proponents of a theory of evolution. He suggested that the force of gravity could be measured by utilizing the motion of a pendulum (1666) and attempted to show that Earth and the Moon follow an elliptical path around the Sun. In 1672 he discovered the phenomenon of diffraction (the bending of light rays around corners); to explain it, he offered the wave theory of light. He stated the inverse square law to describe planetary motions in 1678, a law that Newton later used in modified form.

Hooke was the first man to state in general that all matter expands when heated and that air is made up of particles separated from each other by relatively large distances. The English father of microscopy, re-confirmed Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discoveries of the existence of tiny living organisms in a drop of water. Hooke made a copy of Leeuwenhoek's light microscope and then improved upon his design.

ZACHARIAS JANSSEN
(1580 1632)

Is generally believed to be the first investigator to invent the compound microscope. o Jansen is associated with invention of the a single-lens (simple) optical microscope and the compound (2 or more lens) 9x magnification optical microscope, probably with the help of his father in 1595 while trying to find a way to make magnification even greater, to help people with seriously poor eyesight. Jansen's attribution to these discoveries is debatable since there is no concrete evidence as to the actual inventor. Also Jansen's date of birth may be as late as 1590, making him 5 years old at the claimed time of invention. Telescope

He is also one of three people generally associated with the invention of the telescope in the Netherlands in 1608. That year Hans Lippershey filed the first known patent for the device on October 2 with the States-General of the Netherlands, followed a few weeks later by a second patent application by Jacob Metius of Alkmaar. Both were turned down because there were counter claims for the invention.

ANTON VAN LEEUWENHOEK

Father of Microscopy and Microbiology and considered to be the first microbiologist. He is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology. Anton van Leeuwenhoek is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope, beginning in 1648, and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology in 1673. He was also the first to record microscopic observations of muscle fibers, bacteria, spermatozoa and blood flow in capillaries (small blood vessels). Hooke made the first recorded microscopic observation but Van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe single-celled organisms like microbes. Van Leeuwenhoek is also credited with the invention of the simple microscope which uses only one magnifying lens, which was much better that the compound microscope at the time.

In 1676, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observed bacteria and other microorganisms in water, the first bacteria observed by man, using a single-lens microscope of his own design. Van Leeuwenhoek's main discoveries are: o the infusoria (protists in modern zoological classification), in 1674 o the bacteria, (e.g. large Selenomonads from the human mouth), in 1676 o the spermatozoa in 1677. Van Leeuwenhoek had troubles with Dutch theologists about his practice. o the banded pattern of muscular fibers, in 1682.

THEODORE SCHWANN
(December 07, 1810 1882)

German physiologist and histologist. Generally considered the founder of modern histology. A cofounder (with Matthias Schleiden) of the cell theory, Schwann extended the work of Schleiden and demonstrated that the cell is the basis of animal as well as of plant tissue, and because he recognized the physiological and the morphological significance of the cell in advance of other 19th-century biologists he may be called the father of cytology. He also discovered pepsin, the first digestive enzyme prepared from animal tissue, and experimented to disprove spontaneous generation. Of great influence was his Microscopical Researches in the Structure and Growth of Animals and Plants (1839, tr. 1847).

Schwann also began research on muscle contraction and discovered striated muscles in the upper portion of the esophagus. He also identified the delicate sheath of cells surrounding peripheral nerve fibers, which is now named the sheath of Schwann. Schwann also contributed to the understanding and classification of adult animal tissues. He classified tissues into five groups: separate independent cells, such as blood; compacted independent cells, such as skin; cells whose walls have coalesced, such as cartilage, bones, and teeth; elongated cells which have formed fibers, such as tendons and ligaments; and finally, cells formed by the fusion of walls and cavities, such as muscles and tendons. His conclusions were also basic to the modern concept of embryology, for he described embryonic development as a succession of cell divisions.

Matthias Schleiden
(5 April 1804 23 June1881)

German botanist; Professor in the University of Jena. He brought the nucleus to popular attention and asserted its all importance in the economy of the cell. He came to believe that the nucleus was really the most important portion of the vegetable cell, in that it is the original structure from which the remainder of the cell is developed. He named it the cytoblast. Master microscopist who was influenced by Schelling's Naturphilosophie and the writings of Oken. He worked under Johannes Mller and studied primarily cells in plants. He observed that all plants seemed to be

composed of cells, and is thus considered the co-founder of cell theory together with Schwann, with whom he consulted. Schleiden wanted to make cell formation analogous to crystal formation, and published his results in Beitrge zur Phytogenesis (Contributions of Phytogenesis, 1838). Schleiden was a vitalist, and thought the cell was the center of the vital force vitalism theory. Schleiden and Schwann became the first to formulate what was then an informal belief as a principle of biology equal in importance to the atomic theory of chemistry. Schleiden was one of the first German biologists to accept Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Rudolf Virchow
(October 13, 1821 September 05, 1902)

German scientist Pathologist. Vegetable cell was discovered by Schleiden and animal cell by Schwann. Virchow adopted these discoveries to his study of human anatomy and pathology. In 1858 Rudolf Virchow published his book on Cellular Pathology. In inflammations and other pathological conditions, it is the cell that bears the brunt. Thus Virchow struck his note at the grass-root level.

Scientist Rudolf Virchow formulated the idea that phlebitis (inflammation of blood vessels) would trigger formation of small thrombi which could be carried in the circulation to distant parts of the body. The same migration of the cells of tumours could explain the metastases of malignant growths/tumours. The formation of tubercles in tuberculosis postulated by Virchow, even before the discovery of the tubercle bacilli by Koch, could be attributed to dissemination of cells. Though the process of TB is not as deadly as cancer, yet the postulation of the resemblance to cancerous cell embolization is not out of place, in the context of the explanation about the spread of TB in the body. Perhaps, TB could well be ranked as a stage in between chronic inflammation and malignancy. Any disease or new growth could occur only as an offshoot activity of a previous cell. He endorsed the theory of Charles Darwin which also appealed about the continuity of the life of the cell. Scientist Rudolf Virchow proved that microscopy is the only means of describing the details of a cell.