Final answer:
Robert Hooke is the scientist who first named the structures he observed in cork tissue as "cells" in his 1665 publication Micrographia, which led to the development of cell theory. Advances in microscope technology allowed for further discoveries in cell biology.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scientist who examined cork under a primitive microscope and named the compartments he observed "cells" was Robert Hooke. In his seminal 1665 work, Micrographia, Robert Hooke documented his microscopic observations of cork tissue. The box-like structures he noticed resembled the cells of a honeycomb or the small rooms in a monastery, and he aptly coined the term "cell" to describe these fundamental building blocks of life. The development of more advanced microscopes and techniques in the years that followed, such as improved lenses, microscope construction, and staining methods, allowed scientists, including van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s who discovered bacteria and protozoa, to delve deeper into the study of the microscopic world and eventually to the establishment of the unified cell theory.