CN-MP | Less 2 |Cuizon
SHORT HISTORY OF THE MICROSCOPE
1600s - lenses first mounted on permanent
frameworks (so distance could be changed)
Background
The microscope was first built in 1595 by
Hans and Zacharias Janssen (1588-1631) Why would this be
in Holland. important?
Later, it was perfected in the 17th century To focus the image
in several countries, including by Robert
Hooke (1635- 1703), in England but most Next, lenses were paired
notably by a Dutchman, Anton van together.
Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723).
These formed the
Around the 1st century, someone discovered earliest compound
that looking through a crystal made things look microscopes and
larger telescopes.
That piece of crystal was called a "magnifying Why would this be useful?
glass" and then later was called a lens To increase the
because it was shaped like a lentil seed. magnification
In the 13th century (1200s) an Italian inventor Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
made the first eye glasses, allowing the Developed a primitive compound
wearer to have magnification. His name was microscope
Salvino D'Armate. Eye glasses were also In Micrographia (1665), he coined the
called spectacles. word cell to describe the features of plant
tissue (cork from the bark of an oak tree) he
Magnifying Glasses was able to discover under the microscope.
The earliest forms of magnification
usually between 6x to 10x
were used for looking at tiny insects
These excited general wonder when used to
view fleas or tiny creeping things and so were
dubbed "flea glasses".
Microscope
was first built in
1595 Using a much improved microscope,
by Zacharias with a monocular eyepiece,
Janssen and his a wooden tube,
father Hans in a stage for holding a specimen,
Holland and a glass globe full of water to
The first compound concentrate light onto it,
microscopes
produced by the Janssens simply a tube Hooke produced marvelous illustrations,
with lenses at each end. which were published in 1667, in his
famous book Micrographia, which fired
the imagination of his contemporaries,
The magnification of these early scopes ranged including van Leeuwenhoek.
from 3X to 9X, depending on the size of the
diaphragm openings. Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)
14th century lenses were used in He gained much of his inspiration form
spectacles reading
Hooke's
Late 16th century the Dutch refined the art Micrographia.
of lens grinding-----significant
magnification
CN-MP | Less 2 |Cuizon
Used his new instrument, reaching 300x Developed in the 1930s
with a single lens (more powerful than Allowed for higher magnification
Hooke's) Used electron beams (instead of light) and
and discovered startling microscopic focused with an electromagnet (no lenses)
things, (protozoa and spermatozoa), Light microscope magnifies up to 2000X
or to discover the microscopic structure of Electron microscope magnifies up to
known things, such as fleas and plant 50000X or higher
leaves. Better quality images at higher
magnification
Then there was little change until the Industrial
Revolution (1750-1850)
Changes of the Industrial Revolution
Standardized parts (which were
interchangeable with other microscopes)
lead to mass production.
This triggered a drop in price → increased
access → new discoveries → clearer images
In approx. 1880 modern microscopes were
being used
With the advancement of technology and
improved optics, the compound light
microscope came into being.
Other types of microscopes: Electron
Microscope
