Which 1600s scientist is associated with naming cells after observing cork?

• A. Robert Hooke
• B. Anton van Leeuwenhoek
• C. Matthias Schleiden
• D. Theodore Schwann

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is who first gave the name “cell” to the basic units of life after looking at cork. In 1665, Robert Hooke used a telescope-like microscope to view thin sections of cork from a tree bark. He saw many tiny, box-like compartments and, thinking of their small rooms in monasteries, called them cells. This naming stuck and became the standard term for the basic units of life, even though the cork he examined consisted of dead plant tissue.

The other scientists contributed in different ways. Anton van Leeuwenhoek improved lenses and described living microorganisms, which opened up microbiology, but he didn’t name cells. Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann later helped formulate cell theory, recognizing that cells are the basic units of life in plants and animals, but their work came after Hooke and focused on broader principles rather than naming cells from cork.