Micrographia : or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon

Robert Hooke’s Micrographia was the first major publication of the Royal Society and revealed previously unknown details of some of nature’s smallest creatures. Hooke made use of the newly-invented microscope to view flies, fleas and other insects, which were shown in the book by a series of incredibly detailed fold-out pictures known as ‘plates’. The work was most significant, however, for Hooke’s discovery and description of plant cells, which happened while he was looking the material structure of cork in fine detail. He noticed little honeycomb-shaped structures which he named ‘cells’ because their thick walls resembled the rooms in monasteries where monks spent much of their time.