Jan Swammerdam
Jan Swammerdam, 1637-1680, Dutch naturalist.
Swammerdam used microscopy coupled with innovative laboratory
techniques to study the circulatory system, developing the work
of William Harvey. He was the first to
observe red blood corpuscles. His work also extended to the
lower organisms; in Algemeene Verhandeling van bloedeloose
diertjens (1669; translated as The Natural History of
Insects, 1792), the first important work of entomology,
Swammerdam described and classified hundreds of species of
insects, arachnids, fishes, and worms. He also studied
embryology, and remained a believer in the doctrine of
preformation (the homonculus theory). His innovative equipment
and techniques led to many discoveries in microscopic anatomy.
