Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was one of those people that we would never of thought to grow up to become a scientist. He came from a family of tradesmen. He had no fortune, received little to almost no education at all, and knew no other languages other than the language he was born with, which was Dutch. This would have been enough to exclude him from the occupation of a scientist completely. Yet with skill, carefulness, …

…van Leeuwenhoek made a huge contribution to cell theory by building his own version of the microscope. Although it wasn't the first microscope in history, it was one of the best microscopes at his time. It was he who discovered bacteria, microscopic Protists, sperm cells, blood cells, microscopic nematodes and rotifers, and much more. His researches, which were widely circulated and distributed, opened up an entire world of microscopic life to the awareness of scientists.