Theodor schwann short biography

Since Theodor was little, his father always involved him in building small machines, so the future scientist developed a practical mind. He was characterized by his experimental methods and had a great impact on his pupil. Later he enrolled at the University of Berlin, where he met again with J. At the University of Berlin he obtained his doctorate in He had a good relationship with J.

In , at just 26 years old, he discovered pepsin and the importance of bile in the digestive process. Three years later, he devoted himself to studying the principles of cell theory previously proposed by various scientists. That year he moved to Belgium and there he began to teach Anatomy classes at the Catholic University of Louvain.

He was there until During the years in which he was in Belgium, he detached himself from research and focused on teaching. He managed to develop in young people a feeling towards him of respect, affection and admiration. After his retirement, he worked until his death on a work through which Theodor sought to tell his atomicist perspective on physical phenomena, and became involved in matters concerning theology.

However, the work he was working on could not be completed, since Schwann died on January 11, , in Cologne Germany , when he was 71 years old. The cell theory, fundamental in biology, explains the composition of living beings and the importance of cells in life. This theory could be developed through the contributions of various scientists, especially in terms of its principles.

In addition to Schwann, Robert Hooke, M. Schleiden, and Robert Brown, among others, were also highly influential. The study of cells began long before Theodor Schwann's investigations. Like all theories, its principles are based on past observations and facts that are synthesized through scientific methods. The invention of the microscope in the seventeenth century is attributed to Zacharias Jansen, although at the time of his invention he was very young, so it is believed that his father was the one who made it and he perfected it.

In further experiments, Schwann examined notochordal tissue and cartilage from toad larvae, as well as tissues from pig embryos, establishing that animal tissues are composed of cells, each of which has a nucleus. Schwann published his observations in in the Neue notisen geb. It is considered a landmark work, [ 14 ] foundational to modern biology.

In it Schwann declared that "All living things are composed of cells and cell products". The first two were correct:. By the s, these tenets were the accepted basis of cell theory, used to describe the elementary anatomical composition of plants and animals. Schwann's theory and observations created a foundation for modern histology. His observation that the single-celled ovum eventually becomes a complete organism, established one of the basic principles of embryology.

Schwann's third tenet, speculating on the formation of cells, was later disproven. Schwann hypothesized that living cells formed in ways similar to the formation of crystals. Biologists would eventually accept the view of pathologist Rudolf Virchow , who popularized the maxim Omnis cellula e cellula —that every cell arises from another cell—in There is no evidence to suggest that Schwann and Raspail were aware of each other's work.

Schwann was particularly interested in nervous and muscular tissues. As part of his efforts to classify bodily tissues in terms of their cellular nature, he discovered the cells that envelope the nerve fibers , which are now called Schwann cells in his honor. Their mechanisms continue to be studied. Schwann also discovered that muscle tissue in the upper esophagus was striated.

In examining teeth, Schwann was the first to notice " cylindrical cells " connected to both the inner surface of the enamel and the pulp. He also identified fibrils in the dentinal tubes, which later became known as " Tomes's fibers ". He speculated on the possible structural and functional significance of the tubes and fibrils. In his Microscopical researches , Schwann introduced the term "metabolism", which he first used in the German adjectival form "metabolische" to describe the chemical action of cells.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikispecies Wikisource Wikidata item. German physiologist — Neuss , First French Empire. Cologne , German Empire.

Theodor schwann short biography

Cell theory Schwann cells Pepsin. Yeast, fermentation, and spontaneous generation. Berlin: Dudenverlag. ISBN Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Archived from the original on 22 July Retrieved 14 December Cambridge University Press. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 31 October Retrieved 31 October Archived from the original on 23 August Retrieved 30 October Famous Scientists.

Archived from the original on 6 April Retrieved 1 November Current Medical Issues. S2CID Around this period, he identified the role that micro-organisms played in alcohol fermentation and putrefaction. Following intensive experimentation he theorized that yeast originated the chemical process of fermentation. However, it was not until over a decade later that his explanation of fermentation was accepted by other scientists.

In , one of his friends, the botanist Matthias Schleiden, published an article discussing the structure and origin of plant cells and theorized that all plant cells share a common structure and that new plant cells form from the nuclei of old plant cells. This article made Schwann wonder if this could be true for animal cells as well.

He shared his ideas with Schleiden and they jointly began investigating the similarities between plant cells and animal cells. Schwann became chair of anatomy at the Belgian Catholic University of Leuven in He was a dedicated professor, much loved by his students. In , he became professor of anatomy at the University of Liege where he worked on a human respirator for environments where the surroundings are not breathable.

He discovered the Schwann cells, a variety of glial cell that keep peripheral nerve fibers both myelinated and unmyelinated alive. The cells are involved in many important aspects of peripheral nerve biology. Schwann along with Matthias Schleiden is credited to have given the cell theory which describes the properties of cells. His theory that along with plants, animals are also composed of cells or the product of cells in their structures was a major advancement in the field of biology since little was known about animal structure up to the midth century.

He was awarded the Copley medal in for his physiological researches on the development of animal and vegetable textures. Theodor Schwann was a very simple man who stayed away from scientific controversies and petty rivalries that are common in the scientific fraternity. Jared Diamond. Carl Woese. John Michael Bishop. Gabriele Falloppio.