- Cell theory states that the cell is the fundamental unit of life, cells are structurally and functionally similar, and organisms arise from pre-existing cells. - Key developments included Hooke and Leeuwenhoek observing cells under microscopes in the 1600s, Brown discovering the nucleus in 1831, Schleiden and Schwann establishing that plants and animals are made of cells in 1838-1839, and Virchow proposing that all cells come from pre-existing cells in 1858. - There are two main types of cells - prokaryotic cells which lack nuclei and organelles and eukaryotic cells which have distinct nuclei surrounded by membranes and organelles like mitochondria and Golgi bodies.