Conception

Historical Notes

1. Discovery of Human Sperm Cells

A. van Leeuvenhoek (1632 - 1723)

Antonius van Leeuvenhoek was a Dutch businessman who became an expert lens grinder and amateur scientist. With a self-built microscope, he investigated various liquids, tissues, and minerals and corresponded about his discoveries with the scientific authorities of his time. In 1677, examining his own ejaculate, he was the first to see living human sperm cells in a drop of semen. He believed, however, that each sperm cell already contained, in a "preformed" state, the entire potential human being. This belief was shared by many scientists for many years, as various medical illustrations made in the 17th and 18th centuries show.

(Left) Leeuvenhoek’s own drawing of the sperm cells he saw. (Right) Drawings made by others after Leeuvenhoek’s discovery. Before the discovery of the egg cell, many scientists believed that the head of each sperm cell contained a fully “preformed” little person (homunculus).