Matthias Jakob SchleidenBorn 5 Apr 1804; died 23 Jun 1881 at age 77.German botanist who first formulated the theory that plants are composed of cells. Instead of plant classification, Schleiden studied plant growth and structure under the microscope. This led to his Contributions to Phytogenesis (1838), which stated that the various structures of the plant are composed of cells or their derivatives. He thus formulated the cell theory for plants, which was later eleborated and extended to animals by the German physiologist Theodor Schwann. Schleiden recognized the significance of the cell nucleus and sensed its importance in cell division, although he thought (wrongly) that new cells were produced by budding from its surface. He was one of the first German biologists to accept Darwinism. |
