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History of the Microscope:
The optical microscope uses light moved through a lens or lenses to produce magnified views of the
smallest of subjects. Over the centuries, these devices have become staples in classrooms, laboratories,
jewelry stores and more.
However, like other observing aids such as the telescope, the exact origins of the optical microscope
are difficult to trace to just one inventor.
The following are some of the milestones in the development of the optical microscope:
1590s —Dutch spectacle makers create an early version of the compound microscope. Exactly which
Dutch spectacle makers should get credit for the invention is a long-standing matter of debate. The
candidates include Zacharias Janssen or Hans Lippershey, who are also linked to the invention of the
telescope.
1665 — English polymath Robert Hooke publishes Micrographia, a groundbreaking book filled with
descriptions and illustrations of observations he made with a telescope. In this publication, Hooke
coined the term “cell” when describing the microscopic structures that he had observed in a sliver of
cork.
1670s – Dutch merchant, civil servant and science enthusiast Antonie van Leeuwenhoek makes the
first observations of bacteria and protozoa using single lens microscopes that he made himself. His
microscopes reached unprecedented magnification levels up to 270x. He eventually became known as
“the father of microbiology”.
Microscope Types:
Optical microscopes work by guiding light that passes through a specimen or bounces off a specimen
through a series of lenses to bring enlarged views of the specimen to the observer’s eyes. The most
common configurations of optical microscopes are:
Simple Microscope
A simple microscope has a single magnifying lens, which allows objects to be viewed at one set
magnification power. A common example of a simple microscope would be a jeweler’s loupe or a
magnifying glass.
Magnifying Lens
