Appendix: Milestones and Controversies in the History of Cell Theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 225-238
Keyword(s):  
Cell Theory ◽  
History Of

The 1869 controversy of cellular theory: Goodsir versus Virchow

2020 ◽  
pp. 096777202094273
Author(s):  
Michael T Tracy
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Medical Education ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
General Meeting ◽  
Cell Theory ◽  
Late Professor ◽  
Medical Establishment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientific Dispute

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland’s national academy of science and letters and has been in existence since the eighteenth century. On 23 November 1868, a general meeting was held by the RSE at which members nominated the German academic, Professor Rudolf Virchow, as an Honorary Fellow in recognition of his key contributions to cellular theory. This nomination was opposed by the Reverend Joseph Taylor Goodsir, brother of the late Professor of Anatomy at Edinburgh University, John Goodsir. Reverend Goodsir went on to accuse the German professor of plagiarising his late brother’s pioneering work in the formulation of cell theory. The resultant furore created by the Reverend Goodsir led to an acrimonious scientific dispute in the Edinburgh medical establishment, then one of the leading centres of medical education. The current work describes the history of cellular theory as it pertains to John Goodsir and Rudolf Virchow, discusses the history behind the scientific dispute and interprets Reverend Joseph Taylor Goodsir’s role relating his actions to his continuing battle with mental illness, and the aftermath of the dispute as it affected the reputation of John Goodsir.

A unifying concept: the history of cell theory

10.1038/8964 ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. E13-E15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Mazzarello
Keyword(s):  
Cell Theory ◽  
History Of

The Envisioning of Cells

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ohad Parnes
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Process ◽  
Causal Relation ◽  
Tissue Growth ◽  
Cell Theory ◽  
Developmental History ◽  
Living Matter ◽  
Animal Tissues ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
Specific Material

The ArgumentMicroscopical consideration played a crucial role in German physiology in the period of, grosso modo, 1780–1830. Specifically, a conception of material change was established, according to which all life is grounded in the process of the generation of microscopical forms out of an amorphous, primitive generative substance. Embryological development, tissue growth, and the generation of microorganisms were all considered to be the manifestation of this fundamental developmental process. In contrast to the common historiography, I try to understand Theodor Schwann's 1838 discovery of the cell theory in terms of the epistemological categories he applied to the prevailing conceptions of life and living matter. I argue that Schwann was able to discern cells not because of any superior microscopical methods, but rather as part of his wider investigative endeavor to explicate life processes according to specific causal agents. I argue that Schwann was able to demonstrate the existence of cells only when he considered animal tissues in terms of a causal relation between specific material agents and their effect, that is, the developmental history of tissue.

From protoplasmic theory to cellular systems biology: a 150-year reflection

2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (6) ◽  
pp. C1280-C1290 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Rickey Welch ◽  
James S. Clegg
Keyword(s):  
Systems Biology ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Cell Structure ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Cellular Systems ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Cell Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function

Present-day cellular systems biology is producing data on an unprecedented scale. This field has generated a renewed interest in the holistic, “system” character of cell structure-and-function. Underlying the data deluge, however, there is a clear and present need for a historical foundation. The origin of the “system” view of the cell dates to the birth of the protoplasm concept. The 150-year history of the role of “protoplasm” in cell biology is traced. It is found that the “protoplasmic theory,” not the “cell theory,” was the key 19th-century construct that drove the study of the structure-and-function of living cells and set the course for the development of modern cell biology. The evolution of the “protoplasm” picture into the 20th century is examined by looking at controversial issues along the way and culminating in the current views on the role of cytological organization in cellular activities. The relevance of the “protoplasmic theory” to 21st-century cellular systems biology is considered.

scholarly journals The Early History of the Cell Theory

Nature ◽  
1932 ◽  
Vol 130 (3286) ◽  
pp. 634-635
Author(s):  
J. FLORTAN
Keyword(s):  
Early History ◽  
Cell Theory ◽  
History Of

Evolution of the cell theory

1995 ◽  
Vol 349 (1329) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Animal Cell ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cell Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Vital Forces

The problem of the nature of life has a long history going back to the Greeks. There was little real progress until the 19th century and Aristotle may have been at home with many 18th century ideas about vital forces and basic units. Although Hooke described cells in 1665 it took a further 200 years for the significance and nature of cells to be appreciated. In the mid 18th century some considered the basic building blocks of living matter to be fibrous. Globular theories, the precursor to the cell theory, were quite popular at the beginning of the 19th century. Many workers, as microscopes improved, had described various cell types and structures including the nucleus but the idea that cells were the universal units is associated with in 1838 and that of Schwann in 1839. However, Schwann mistakenly thought that cells could form de novo . Cell division was established by Remak and others in the 1850s. Mitosis was first understood by Flemming in 1882. The existence of the animal cell membrane was only established by the beautiful experiments of Overton in 1895. The history of the cell theory can be used to show that progress can be based on incorrect but productive ideas. It is one of the most important ideas in all of biology.

scholarly journals A History of the Cell Theory of Cancer Metastasis

Gesnerus ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 90-95
Author(s):  
Wilson I.B. Onuigbo
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Cell Theory ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals The Cell-theory: a Restatement, History, and Critique

1955 ◽  
Vol s3-96 (36) ◽  
pp. 449-481
Author(s):  
JOHN R. BAKER
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Mitotic Division ◽  
Cell Theory ◽  
The Third ◽  
Somatic Tissues ◽  
History Of ◽  
Longitudinal Division

I. The belief that nuclei arose by exogeny, without relation to pre-existent nuclei, was due mostly to Schleiden (1838). Kölliker (1843) supposed that new nuclei arose by endogeny within pre-existent nuclei. 2. Other early theories of the origin of nuclei contained a considerable element of truth. Many early workers thought that the ordinary nuclei of many-celled plants and animals multiplied by division (Bagge, 1841; Nägeli, 1844; von Baer, 1846), or by the disappearance of the old nucleus and its immediate replacement by two new ones (Nägeli, 1841; Reichert, 1846). 3. The history of the discovery of mitosis falls into three parts. In the first (1842-70), chromosomes were seen accidentally from time to time, but no special attention was paid to them (? Nägeli, 1842; Reichert, 1847). In the second (1871-8), metaphases and anaphases were repeatedly seen, placed in their right sequence, and recognized as normal stages in nuclear multiplication (Russow, 1872; Schneider, 1873; Bütschli, 1875; Strasburger, 1875. In the third (1878 onwards), the main features of prophase and telophase were described and it was shown that the chromosomes replicated themselves by longitudinal division (Flemming, 1878-82). The separateness of the chromosomes in prophase and the constancy of their number were discovered (Rabl, 1885). 4. These researches proved that in ordinary mitosis the nucleus neither disappears completely nor divides. In certain Protozoa, mitotic division of the nucleus is a reality. 5. The indirect origin of cells, through the intermediacy of syncytia, was established by the work of Nägeli (1844), Rathke (1844, Kölliker (1844), and Leuckart (1858). 6. There is nearly always a cellular phase at some stage or other of the life-history of organisms, even when all the somatic tissues are syncytial. Certain Zygomycetes provide an exception.

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