Nehemia Grew, the son of a grammar school
master who later became a physician, observed and drew plant
anatomy, including leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, ovules, pollen
grains, and stamens. He was the first to observe the existence of
sex in plants. Italian Marcello Malpighi, a physician, used the
new compound microscope to study human skin, spleen, kidneys, and
liver and also compared the livers of several types of animals.
Dutchman Anton van Leeuwenhock, a cloth manufacturer who made
microscopes to inspect the quality of cloth, turned them to use in
understanding the life cycles of mites, lice, and fleas. He
correctly described human blood cells. When he found what he
described as tiny animals (bacteria, protezoa, and rotifers), he
sent clear descriptions of them to the Royal Society in London as
proof against the theory of spontaneous generation, which held
that lower forms of life could arise from nonliving matter. This
started the science of bacteriology. The cellular basis of life
was discovered. Human blood vessels were examined. When the egg in
the female reproductive system was discovered, the status of women
was lifted.
Physician Thomas Willis, son of a farmer, dissected brains of men
and animals to study the anatomical relations of nerves and
arteries. Excess urine had been associated with a wasting disease.
Willis identified diabetes mellitus with excess of urine with
sweetness.
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