AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1665, Robert Hooke was the first to observe cork cells and their characteristic hexagonal shape, using the first optical microscope, which was invented by him at that time. With the evolution of imaging techniques, the structure of cork has been analysed with greater accuracy over time.

Detailed explanation-2: -Robert Hooke had discovered the small-scale structure of cork and concluded that the small-scale structure of cork explained its large-scale properties. Cork floats, Hooke reasoned, because air is sealed in the cells. That air springs back after being compressed, and that’s why cork is springy.

Detailed explanation-3: -He observed that cork is made up of tiny hollow compartments. Cells usually have a nucleus and cannot be hollow. As the cells in the cork were dead they lacked cytoplasm and nucleus. Hence, Robert Hooke observed dead enucleated cells under the microscope.

Detailed explanation-4: -The cell was first discovered and named by ROBERT HOOKE in 1665. He remarked that it looked strangely similar to cellula or small rooms which monks inhabited, thus deriving the name. However what Hooke actually saw was the dead cell walls of plant cells (cork) as it appeared under the microscope.