Who discovered the cell and how?

The cell was discovered in 1665 by British scientist Robert Hooke. While examining a thin slice of cork under his self-designed microscope, he observed small honeycomb-like compartments, which he named “cells” (from the Latin word cellula, meaning “a hollow space”). Hooke described these observations in his book Micrographia. He identified the cell wall, but did not recognize the nucleus or other organelles.

Shortly after, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch tradesman, made further breakthroughs using powerful lenses he crafted himself. His microscopes were nearly as strong as modern light microscopes. Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe living human cells and bacteria, opening a new era in cell biology.