Mitosis and Meiosis

When mitosis occurs, cell division usually but not always takes place. Mitosis, therefore, is not the same as cell division. The term mitosis applies only to nuclear division. Two terms are commonly used to make the distinction between cellular and nuclear division. Karyokinesis refers to the division of the nucleus, and cytokinesis refers to the division of the cell. Karyokinesis can take place without cytokinesis. More than one-half century before the details of mitosis were completely understood, cell division had already been observed many times. Wilhelm Hofmeister (1824-1877) described much of mitosis but apparently did not recognize its significance. The stages of mitosis were perhaps best described during this time period by Klein in 1880. Many hundreds of hours of study were undoubtedly involved in his study.