IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS MADE BY SCIENTISTS BIOLOGISTS UPTO 19TH CENTURY
Aristotle (384BC- 322BC) - A Greek philosopher and a student of Plato
He classifi ed organisms on the basis of complexity in structure and function into a hierarchy,
Scala natura, the ladder of life
He wrote Historia Animalium and De Generatione Animalium
He is known as the father of Biology/ Zoology/ Embryology
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) – A Belgian scientist.
He is known as the ‘Father of Anatomy’.
He wrote De Humani Corporis Fabrica (the structure of human body)
William Harvey (1578 -1657) – A British Scientist.
He discovered blood-circulation. His monograph was named ‘Anatomical Exercise on the
motion of the heart and blood’. He is known as the ‘Father of blood circulation’.
He also studied reproduction and development in chick.
Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703 ) – A British Scientist.
He fi rst coined the term cellulae (cell) in 1665 by observing slice of cork under self made
simple microscope.
His book is named ‘Micrographia’
Antony Van Leeuwenhoek ( 1632-1723 ) – A Dutch cloth merchant .- turned into a scientist.
He invented a simple microscope and studied living cells.
He drew the diagram of bacteria and studied Euglena, sperms, blood corpuscles and
compound eyes of insects.
Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) - A Swedish Naturalist .
He published ‘Species Plantarum’ (6000 species of plants) and Systema Naturae( 4000
species of animals ) .in 1758
He also reported Binomial nomenclature, in Philosophia Botanica in 1751, for naming
plants and animals.
Georges Leopold Cuvier (1769-1832) - A French Palaeontologist .
He rejected traditional Scala Naturae of Aristotle.
He studied fossils and laid the foundation of Palaeontology. He is known to be the ‘Father
of Modern Palaeontology’.
He also studied comparative anatomy.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744 -1829) - A French Naturalist .
He was the fi rst to discard the idea of fi xity of species.
He is known to be the ‘Father of evolutionary theories’. He wrote Philosophie Zoologique
in 1809.
He introduced the term ‘Biology’ (with Treviranus)
Robert Brown (1773-1858) -
He discovered ‘Brownian movement’ in cytoplasm (1828).
He also discovered ‘Nucleus’ in the cell.
Matthias Schleiden (1804-1881) - A German Botanist
He Proposed cell theory in 1838 on the basis of his study on plant tissues.
Theodor Schwann (1810-1882) - A German Zoologist .
He strengthened cell theory in 1839 by his study on animal tissues.
O. Hertwig (1875) -
He studied fusion of nuclei during fertilization.
He also proposed ‘protoplasmic theory’ to elaborate schultze’s hypothesis that ‘protoplasm
is the physical basis of life’.
He also coined the term ‘cytology’.
Charles Robert Darwin (1809 - 1882 ) - A British Naturalist .
His book ‘The origin of species by means of natural selection’ was published in 1859.
He is called ‘Newton of Biology’.
He proposed the ‘Theory of Pangenesis’ to explain inheritance in the book ‘On the variation
of animals and plants under domestication (1868)’
Rudolf C. Virchow (1858) -
He proposed ‘Omnis cellula e cellulae’, i.e., New cells arise from pre-existing cells.
He also suggested that disease is the pathological condition of cells.
Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895 ) - A French Scientist.
He proved that fermentation is caused by living organisms (Yeast and Bacteria).
He established ‘Germ theory of diseases’.
He discovered vaccine against Anthrax (caused by Bacillus anthracis in cattle ).
He discarded ‘Spontaneous theory’ of origin of life.
He also proposed Pasteurization for sterilization ( killing of germs )
Ernst Haeckel -
He introduced 2-kingdoms, ‘Monera’ & ‘Protista’.
He also coined and fully defi ned the term ‘Ecology’.
Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 - 1884 ) - An Austrian Monk
He discovered principles of inheritance after his work on Pisum sativum, and published
them in 1866.
Mendel is known to be the ‘Father of genetics’.
August Weismann (1834 - 1914 ) - A German Biologist
He rejected Lamarck’s concept of ‘Inheritance of acquired characters’ and Darwin’s theory
of Pangenesis, with the discovery of ‘Theory of Germ plasm’ in 1892.
