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1268
Invention of spectacles
Two men Salvano d'Aramento degli Amati and Allessandro Della Spina claimed to have invented spectacles. -
1301
Spectacles made to improve eyesight
The art of grinding lenses is developed in Italy and spectacles were made to improve eyesight -
First Microscope
Dutch lens grinders Hans and Zacharias Janssen make the first microscope by placing two lenses in a tube. -
Invention of the compound microscope
Hans Lippershey and his son, Zaccharias Hanssen invented the compound microscope. They used several lenses in a tube magnifying the object beyond that of a magnifying glass. They discovered an object magnified by a single lens can further magnify with a second or more lenses. -
First to view and Describe cells
Robert Hooke was the first to view cells. He also gave them the name "cells" from his observation, he saw tiny little boxes and they looked like rooms to his therefor he came up with "cells". -
Publish of Micrographia
Robert Hooke published his Micrographia, the study of microscopes. -
Focusing device on telescopes
Galileo Improved the telescope in a short period of time making a device to help the telescope focus. Enough so he went on to conquer the stars -
Invention of the reflecting telescope
Sir Isaac Newton in the UK, invented the reflecting telescope. This is a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image -
Francesco Redi, experiment of S.G.
Redi uses a series of flasks with meat in them, half sealed and half open. Then repeated the experiment, instead of covering the flasks he covered them with gaze so air could still get in. All the meat purified, he found only in the open, and uncovered flasks had maggots from flies freely entering formed. He demonstrated that maggots are not a result from spontaneous generation. -
Single lens handheld microscope
Leeuwenhoek experimented with new ways of grinding lenses in order to improve the optical quality. The result of all his work was a single lens handheld microscope. -
Discovery of bacteria in lake water
Leeuwenhoek conducted an experiment viewing lake water and in his surprise he could see movement, discovering bacteria. Earning his title of "Father of the Microscope". -
First to describe cells and bacteria With a powerful magnifying glass
Anton van Leeuwenhoek uses a simple microscope to look at blood, insects and many more objects. He was first to describe cells and bacteria, seen through his very small microscope, in pond water. He named single cell organisms "animalcules". -
Important discovery reducing chromatic effects
Several technical improvements make the microscope better and easier to use, leading to more and more popularity among scientists. Combining two types of glass could reduce chromatic effect with disturbing halos resulting from differences in refraction of light. -
John Needham, experiment of S.G.
Needham challenged Redi's findings and conducted his own experiment. Heating broth up in a bottle to kill anything inside and then sealed it. Days later he reported the presence of life and announced life had been created from nonlife. Saying he had proof of spontaneous generation. But he did not heat the broth long enough to kill all microbes. -
Lazzaro Spallanzani, experiment of S.G.
Conducted a experiment with boiled broth, one sealed, and one open. Days later the unsealed bottle had small living things but the sealed had no sign of life. This excluded spontaneous generation. But scientists of the day noted he had deprived the closed bottle of air, it was thought that air was necessary for spontaneous generation. -
Reduced problem of Spherical Aberration
Joseph Jackson Lister solved the problem of spherical aberration. Light bends at different angles depending on where it hits the lens, by placing lenses at a precise distance apart gave good magnification. These two discoveries contributed toward a improved quality of images. -
Forming of the first two Points in "Cell Theory"
Mattias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann studied plant and animal cells; they were able to view nucleus which are structures in cells that control function. This led them to create the first two points in cell theory. 1. All living things are made up of cells. 2. Cells are the smallest unit of life in livi8ng things. -
Cells acknowledged as basic units of life
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Forming of the third point in "Cell Theory"
Rudolf Virchow conducted tests alongside other scientists to prove "all cells come from other cells". This was an important hypothesis because it explained how living things grow and reproduce. Becoming the third point in Cell Theory. -
Louis Pasteur, experiment of S.G.
Pasteur used a swan neck flask with broth,boiled killing any organisms that were present.Let it sit,exposed to air but no dust particles/other things in the air could get in because of shape of flask.The particles were stuck in the neck of the flask.No matter how long he let it sit,organisms never appeared.When he tipped the flask the broth infused with the stuff in the neck organisms started to appear.showed spontaneous generation did not happen,instead they are introduced with particles in air -
"The Abbe Condenser"
Abbe's work on wave theory of microscopic imaging made possible the development of a new range of seventeen microscope objectives. From here on microscopes were designed based on sound laws of physics. -
Maximum resolution in microscopes
Ernst Abbe formulates a mathematical theory correlating resolution to the wavelength of light. Abbe’s formula makes calculations of maximum resolution in microscopes possible. -
Discovery of Cell Mitosis + Chromosomes
Walter Fleming discovered cell mitosis and chromosomes, this is recognized as one of the 100 most important scientific achievements of all time. -
The first Microtomes
The first Microtomes began to be used that enable much thinner samples to be prepared in order to improve sample. -
Discovery of the cause of Tuberculosis
Robert Koch discovered his famous or infamous postulates: anthrax bacillus, tuberculosis bacillus, cholera vibrio. -
Kohler Illumination
August Kohler figured out an unparalleled illumination system known as Kohler Illumination. Bright images with minimal glare, Kohler achieved an almost perfect image. -
Theoretic Limit of Resolution
Theoretic limit of resolution for visible light microscopes had been reached. -
Invention of Pasteurization
Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization. Partial sterilization of a product, such as milk, to make it safe for consumption and improve keeping qualities. -
2nd Major development for Microscopes
The second major development for microscopes in the 20th century was the evolution of mass market. Starting in the 19th century when Leitz claimed to have exported 50,000 microscopes to the U.S. -
Ultra-microscope development
Richard Zsigmondy developed the ultra-microscope and make it possible to study objects below the wavelength of light. -
Introduction of the first commercial UV Microscope
Zeiss overcame limitations of the theoretic limit of resolution with introducing the first commercial UV microscope. It has the resolution twice that of a visible light microscope. -
Discovery of Viewing Unstained Cells
Fritz Zernike discovered he could view unstained cells using the phase angle of rays. -
Invention of the first Electron Microscope
Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska invented the first electron microscope that blasted past the optical limitations of light. They built a transmission electron microscope that transmits a beam of electrons through the specimen. The beam of electrons with the specimen is recorded and transformed into an image. -
Invention of the phase-contrast microscope
Frits Zernike invented the phase-contrast microscope that allows the study of colorless and transparent biological materials. -
Introduction of Phase Contrast Innovation
Fritz Zernike's discovery of viewing unstained cells using the phase angle of rays was introduced after being rejected with contempt by Zeiss in 1930. -
Improvement of the Transmission Electron Microscope
Ernst Ruska improved the TEM (transmission electron microscope) by building the first scanning electron microscope (SEM) that transmits a beam of electrons across the specimen. -
Stanley Miller + Harold Urey, experiment of S.G.
Miller + Urey Created a cycle or compounds through glass tubes and flasks. No living organisms were created but they did show the basic compounds of life could be derived from non-living compounds. -
Noble Prize
Fritz Zernike won the noble prize for his work on the phase angle of rays. "Phase Contrast Innovation" -
Lynn Margulis, Endosymbiosis
Lynn first made the case of endosymbiosis. The endosymbiotic event that generated mitochondria must have happened early in the history of eukaryotes. Then later a similar event brought chloroplasts into some eukaryotic cells creating the lineage that led to plants. -
Invention of the scanning tunneling microscope
Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope that gives three dimensional images of objects down to the atomic level. -
First Digital Micrroscope
The most recent innovation has been the digital microscope. They allow live images to be transmitted to a TV or computer screen. They've helped revolutionize microphotography. -
Invention of Dino-Lite
Dino-lite digital microscopes are handheld microscopes, not much larger than a fat pen. They have Magnification up to 500x. -
New light sources
Halogen, fluorescent and LED lights have all improved or added greater versatility of the light microscope in the 21st century -
Ruska's Principles
Ruska's principles still form the basis of modern electron microscopes. Microscopes that can achieve magnification levels up to two million times.