History of the Microscope

... The Microscope Introduction History of the Microscope: From ancient times, man has wanted to see things far smaller than could be perceived with the naked eye. This led to the construction, in the 16th century, of a magnifier composed of a single convex lens, and this, in turn, led to the eventual development of the microscope. Perhaps the most famous early pioneers in the history of the microscope are Digges of England and Hans and Zcharias Janssen of Holland. But it was Antony van Leeuwenhoek who became the first man to make and use a real microscope. Leeuwenhoek ground and polished a small glass ball into a lens with a magnification of 270X, and used this lens to make the world's first practical microscope. Because it had only one lens, Leeuwenhoek's microscope is now referred to as a single-lens microscope. Its convex glass lens was attached to a metal holder and was focused

want to read more? →