AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In the year 1665, Robert Hooke observed cork cells under the microscope. Hooke saw cell walls in cork tissue and coined the term ‘cells’ for them, as the box-like compartments of cork reminded him of the cells of a monastery.

Detailed explanation-2: -What Hooke saw looked like a piece of honeycomb. The cork was full of small empty compartments separated by thin walls. He called the compartments “pores, or cells.” He estimated that every cubic inch of cork had about twelve hundred million of these cells. Robert Hooke had discovered the small-scale structure of cork.

Detailed explanation-3: -Final answer: Robert Hooke discovered cells by examining the cork of the bark.

Detailed explanation-4: -Hooke detailed his observations of this tiny and previously unseen world in his book, Micrographia. To him, the cork looked as if it was made of tiny pores, which he came to call “cells” because they reminded him of the cells in a monastery.