LESSON #1

What is so extraordinary about the organization of living

organisms?

DISCOVERING THE
CELL
The unit of life

Levels of
biological
organizatio
n

Before the 1800s

How were cells discovered?

Discovering the principles of the

microscope
In

1590, Zacharias
Janssen, a Dutch
eyeglass maker.
2 overlapped lenses
increase magnification

Anton Van Leewenhoek (16321723)

Father of microbiology

First to observe living

organisms smaller than
what the human eye can
see.

Robert Hooke

Scientist
Made an improved
microscope.
First used the word
cell to indicate what
living beings are made
of.

What Hooke saw

A pause

In the following years

Hookes discovery
didnt have much
influence in science.
S. XVII y XVIII
Scientists were focused
on classifying new
species discovered by
explorers.

In the early 19th Century they had a revolutionary idea in

Germany.
Living things are
made of living
units

They started studying plants and animals at a microscopic

level again.

1839

1838

Both came up with a theory that said that

all organisms come from a cell and
develop from there by the formation of new
cells. CELL THEORY.

All living things are formed by one or more cells

A cell is the smallest and simplest living thing.
All cells come from other pre-existing cells.
All cells can function independently, although they work
together in a coordnated way when part of an organism.

One cell can perform all living functions : nutrition, reproduction

and interrelation

How large are things really?

Microscopic objects are

meassured in:

m = 10-3 mm
Nm = 10-6 mm

Not visible with a naked

eye.
Eye resolution is 0,2
mm

If two objects are

separated by a smaller
distance, we will see
them as one.

Exercise 1:
If an object meassures 1
mm, how many
micrometers does it
meassure? And how
many nanometers?

Exercise 2
Paramecium caudatum magnified 300 times

3.6 cm

What is the size of the

paramecium?
Could we see it with
our naked eye?

20th Century interest: The cell

1930 invention of
the Electron
Microscope:
uses

electrons
instead of light.
Resolution 0,5 nm.
Allows to see cells in
detail.

Electron Microscope Images

What do you think this is?

And this?