- Originating cell theory-[German] Shi Wang (181 ~ 1882)

One day more than 18 years ago, in a classroom of a primary school on the Rhine, the teacher asked his students with smiles: "Classmates, the whole school mathematics competition has been announced, and the first place is our class. While the children were talking, the teacher turned to a silent student and then added, "It's Bobbie." This wavelet ratio is Shi Wang.

Abandon God to become a doctor

Theodore? 6? 1 Ambrose Hubert? 6? 1 Theodor Shi Wang is a German zoologist and physiologist. He was born on December 7, 181 in Neuss on the Rhine. Father is a local goldsmith. Shi Wang had good conduct, diligence and modesty in his youth. Due to lack of interest in the outside world and lack of self-confidence due to introversion, Shi Wang is obsessed with learning and has a strong interest in religion. His grades in all subjects are among the best, especially in mathematics and physics.

In p>1826, Shi Wang bid farewell to his hometown and entered the famous Jesus Church College in Cologne. There, Shi Wang was influenced by an outstanding religious teacher, W. Smythe, and cultivated the ability to accept new things. Smythe's description and exposition of the strange phenomenon between man and nature made Shi Wang realize that the law of human development is embodied through its own perfect process. In order to demonstrate this law, he later gave up theology and turned to medical research. In 1829, after graduating from Cologne, Shi Wang went against his parents' wishes to study theology and insisted on studying medicine. This year, he entered Bonn University to study. In 1831, he got a bachelor's degree in medicine. During this period, Shi not only listened to the physiology course of the famous scientist J. Maitreya, but also had the honor to be an assistant in Maitreya laboratory temporarily.

In the autumn of p>1831, Shi Wang went to Wü rzburg and studied clinical medicine for three semesters. In April 1833, he left Wü rzburg and returned to Berlin to listen to Maitreya's anatomy and physiology. He published a paper entitled "On the Necessity of Atmospheric Air for Hatching Bird Eggs", which was well received by Maitreya. On May 31, 1834, Shi Wang won the doctor's degree in medicine, and passed the national examination on July 26 of the same year, officially becoming Maitreya's assistant. From then on, Shi Wang devoted all his time and energy to Maitreya's experimental research. Under the guidance of Maitreya, he became interested in many academic fields. He had studied histology, physiology and microbiology and made many contributions. For example, he discovered the fibrous sheath around nerve fibers, which was later called Shi Wang's nerve sheath; He studied the digestive process of animals and discovered an enzyme called stomach egg A enzyme in 1836. He studied the embryonic development of chicken and found the fact that chicken embryos need oxygen to breathe. He also studied the process of fermentation and thought that the fermentation of sugar solution was caused by swarm mothers, thus denying the prevailing theory of spontaneous occurrence at that time.

In Berlin, Shi Wang was lucky enough to meet Schleiden. Although Schleiden, as a Catholic, has completely different positions and views from Shi Wang, who has liberal thoughts. Ran Li, in terms of professional scientific interest, rejected the hypothesis of German philosopher Schelling's natural philosophy and vitality theory (that is, there is an intangible "vitality" that works in life), and the two fires still have completely consistent views. In 1838, when Schleiden put forward his cell theory based on the study of embryo sac rhyme of flowering plants, Shi Wang began to study the cell theory of embryonic tissue of frog larvae' notochord and cartilage tissue of embryo. After he also found cells containing nuclei in these aspects, he continued to study other different types of cell tissues, and these studies all got the same results. At the same time, he tried his best to explore the development of cells through the embryonic stage. In 1839, Shi Wang published a paper entitled "Microscopic Study on the Structure and Growth Consistency of Animals and Plants", which established and perfected the "Cell Theory" founded by him and Schleiden.

"cell theory"

With the use of microscope, people have discovered a new world and the existence of cells. With the in-depth observation of cells by British physicist Hooke and others, especially Schleiden's cell thought, this new world has attracted the attention of Shi Wang.

in p>1838, Schleiden proposed that cells are the basic living units of all plant structures and the basic entities on which all plants depend for development. He believes that cells are independent units with life, and the development of plants is realized by the continuous formation of new cells. At a party in October 1838, Schleiden also told Shi Wang, a good friend who works in Maitreya Laboratory, the basic knowledge about the structure of plant cells and the important role of cell nucleus in cell development in the unpublished Theory of Phytogenesis, which aroused Shi Wang's strong interest. Because when Shi Wang studied the nerves of tadpoles, he also saw something similar to what Schleiden observed in plant cells in the notochord cells, as well as in the embryonic tissues of chickens and pigs. Thanks to Shi Wang's unremitting efforts, people's understanding of cells has expanded from the plant kingdom to the animal kingdom. He believes that cells are also the basic living units of all animal structures and the basic entities on which all animals depend for development. He pointed out that cells are the basis of life activities of all organisms including plants and animals. He, like Schleiden, assumes that the new cells of fertilized eggs of animals, like plants, are developed in the old cells, so all organisms start their life activities with a single cell. Based on this, Shi Wang believed that each cell has its own structure and life, and classified cells: 1. Independent and separated cells, such as blood cells; 2. Independent and close cells, such as skin cells; 3. Cells that are well developed and have solid walls, such as those of bones and teeth; 4. Cells that can grow into fibers, such as ligaments and tendons; 5. Cells with connected walls and cavities, such as nerve and muscle cells.

in p>1839, Shi Wang systematically expounded his "cell theory" in his book Microscopic Studies. This theory holds that the homogenesis of every living object (animal or plant) is a cell. He interprets "cell" as an "extra-nuclear layer" that differentiates itself, that is, it is surrounded by a membrane, and then gradually empties in the place where a hard substance is deposited, like a bubble, or it merges with other cells' "layers". In order to explain the cell theory in detail, Shi Wang divides it into three parts in the book: < P > The first part is devoted to the microscopic study of nerve cords on the back of frog larvae. When Shi Wang studied the structure of tadpole's notochord, he found that there was a polyhedral cell in the inner and outer layers of its cell wall, which was the same as the plant cell structure, and a new cell was formed in the mother cell. At the same time, he also found that the cartilage structure of animals is the same as that of plants. Therefore, he is convinced that animals, like plants, have cell structures derived from similar cells.

The second part introduces the same concept of "basic part" and its proof. Shi Wang discovered that the "basic parts" of various animal tissues, such as their epithelium, hoof, feather, lens, cartilage, bone, tooth, muscle, fat and nerve, are all products of cell differentiation. In the third part, he summed up his research work and made a clear explanation of the "cell theory". He summed up his cell theory in this sentence: "No matter how different the basic parts of organisms are, they always have a universal development principle, and this principle is the formation of cells." Shi Wang believes that development is the universal law of all organisms, and the development process is the process of cell formation. He also believes that cells have two forces: metabolism and attraction. Therefore, there are two kinds of cellular phenomena: modeling observation and metabolic phenomena. The function of metabolism is to turn external substances into raw materials for cells, while the function of attraction is to concentrate, condense and shape raw materials through concentration and precipitation.

In a word, Shi Wang tried to replace the theological explanation of life phenomena with physical methods. In his view, the phenomenon of life is not produced by some force that depends on a certain consciousness, but by the force that is both accidental and inevitable as in physical phenomena. When Shi Wang used cell theory to study life phenomena, in essence, he had confirmed the essential consistency of the growth of animals and plants.

The establishment of Schwann's cell theory reveals the * * * law of organism's production, growth and structure, which Engels spoke highly of. He wrote in Dialectics of Nature: "Shi Wang and Schleiden discovered the organic cell, and found that it is such a unit: all organisms, except the lowest level, are produced and grown up from its reproduction and differentiation. With this discovery, the study of organic and living natural products-comparative anatomy, physiology and embryology-has gained a solid foundation. The secret of the birth, growth and structure of the organism has been revealed; The miracle that was once incomprehensible has now manifested itself as a process, which is carried out according to the law that all multicellular organisms are essentially the same. "