Zacharias Janssen's Cell Theory

Zacharias Janssen played an important role in the development of cell theory, through his development of the first primitive microscope, according to the University of Miami’s Department of Biology.

Biography

Zacharias Janssen was a spectacle maker from Middleburg in the Netherlands. Janssen was born in 1580 and developed a microscope in 1595, leading to a controversy over the involvement of Janssen’s father in the invention of the microscope.

Microscope

The microscope developed by Zacharias Janssen was little more than two tubes with a lens at the end of each, focused by twisting the tubes. Janssen’s microscope magnified items by between three and nine times.

Cell

Janssen’s invention of the microscope allowed English scientist Robert Hooke to use a primitive microscope to view the cell walls of a piece of cork in 1663. The University of Miami reports Hooke is responsible for the first use of the term cell.

References

• Miami University (Ohio): Founding Fathers of Microscopy
• Ohio University: History of Science
• University of Miami: Cell Theory