Matthias Jakob Schleiden
The Earnest Scientist
Happy Birthday today to the German botanist and early evolutionist Matthias Jakob Schleiden (born April 5, 1804, in Hamburg, Germany — died June 23, 1881, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany).
Schleiden was also the co-founder (with Theodor Schwann) of the cell theory; Schleiden was the first person to recognize the importance of cells in plants.
Later, speculated on the role of the nucleus in cell division. Matthias Schleiden who said,
"Youthful fancy lends to the rock, the tree, the flower, an animating genius, and in the thunder hears the voice of God. Then comes earnest science stripping Nature of that inspiring charm, and substituting the unvarying law of blind necessity."