Which scientist first described cells after observing cork under a microscope?

• A. Anton van Leeuwenhoek
• B. Robert Hooke
• C. Louis Pasteur
• D. Charles Darwin

Answer: (B)

The key idea is how the first description of cells came about through early microscopy and the naming of the basic unit of life. Robert Hooke, in the 1660s, used a simple microscope to look at thin slices of cork. What he saw were tiny, boxy compartments that reminded him of the small rooms monks lived in, so he called them “cells.” This moment marks the first documented description of cells and the origin of the term.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek later used better lenses to observe living things, like bacteria and other microorganisms, but he wasn’t describing cork cells for the first time. The other two scientists contributed to different areas—Pasteur to germ theory and fermentation, Darwin to evolution—so they aren’t the ones who first described cells in cork.