Q 01/05

Who coined the term "cell" in 1665 after examining thin slices of cork under a microscope?

A) Jan Swammerdam

B) Robert Hooke

C) Marcello Malpighi

D) Robert Brown

Answer · why

B) Robert Hooke

The little compartments in cork reminded him of the small rooms, or cells, that monks lived in. What he actually saw were the empty walls of dead plan...

Q 02/05

In which 1665 book did the word "cell" first appear, describing pores in a sliver of cork?

A) Micrographia

B) De Humani Corporis Fabrica

C) Principia

D) Systema Naturae

Answer · why

A) Micrographia

The book was the first major work on microscopy and became a bestseller; Samuel Pepys stayed up until two in the morning reading it.

Q 03/05

The word "cell" comes from the Latin cellula. What does it mean?

A) Little box

B) Honeycomb

C) Building block

D) Small room

Answer · why

D) Small room

The same root gives us the prison cell and the monk's cell, which is exactly the image Hooke had in mind.

Q 04/05

Roughly how many cells make up a typical adult human body?

A) 300 billion

B) 3 trillion

C) 30 trillion

D) 3 billion

Answer · why

C) 30 trillion

The estimate is around 36 trillion for an adult male and 28 trillion for a female, and most of them are red blood cells.

Q 05/05

About how many different cell types are there in the human body?

A) 2,000

B) 20

C) 200

D) 20,000

Answer · why

C) 200

Neurons, hepatocytes, red blood cells and their relatives all trace back to a single fertilised egg.