Name the scientist who observed a thin slice of cork through a microscope and coined the term 'cell'.

Robert Hooke, an English scientist, was the first person to observe and name cells in 1665. He examined a thin slice of cork under a primitive compound microscope of his own design and noticed a honeycomb-like pattern of tiny compartments. These box-like structures reminded him of the small rooms or "cells" where monks lived in monasteries, leading him to coin the term "cell" to describe these biological units.

What Hooke actually observed were the dead cell walls of cork tissue, not living cells themselves, but his observation was revolutionary for biology. He published his findings in his famous work "Micrographia," which included detailed illustrations of what he saw. Though Hooke didn't realize the true significance of these structures or that they were the fundamental units of life, his naming and documentation of cells marked the beginning of cell biology as a scientific discipline and paved the way for later scientists to develop cell theory.