Explain the historical significance of Micrographia

Question

In the year1665 Robert Hooke, an English scientist, printed his book Micrographia, in which he explained that pieces of cork viewed beneath the microscope represented small cavities identical to pores that were filled with air. Based on later on knowledge, of what were the walls of such cavities comprised? Explain the historical significance of that observation?

Answer 1

The walls of cavities examined by Hooke were the walls of plant cells which form the tissue. The observation led to the introduction of the cells, a fact just possible after the invention of the microscope. In that work, Hooke established the word “cell”, now broadly employed in Biology, to designate such cavities seen beneath the microscope.