Final answer:
Robert Hooke was the first to describe cells in dead cork tissue, doing so in his 1665 publication, Micrographia. The correct answer is option a).
Step-by-step explanation:
The first person to describe cells in dead cork tissue was Robert Hooke. In his 1665 publication, Micrographia, Hooke used the term "cell" to refer to the box-like structures that he observed through a microscope. The microscopes of Hooke's time were relatively primitive.
Yet he was able to discern the cellular structure of the cork because the plant cells had rigid, easily visible cell walls. Hooke's discovery was groundbreaking in the study of cellular biology. Although he was observing remnants of cells that were no longer alive.
The preservation of their structure due to the cell walls allowed for this significant observation. It set the stage for future discoveries and the eventual understanding that cells are the basic unit of life, as described later by scientists such as Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann.