The History of Microscopes

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  • Two Dutch spectacle makers, Zacharias Jansen and his father Hans started experimenting by mounting two lenses in a tube, the first compound microscope

    Two Dutch spectacle makers, Zacharias Jansen and his father Hans started experimenting by mounting two lenses in a tube, the first compound microscope
  • Period: to

    History of the Microscope

  • Galileo Galilei develops a compound microscope with a convex and a concave lens

    Galileo Galilei develops a compound microscope with a convex and a concave lens

  • Robert Hooke's book called Micrographia officially documented a wide range of observations through the microscope.

    Robert Hooke's book called Micrographia officially documented a wide range of observations through the microscope.

  • Anton van Leeuwenhoek used grinding lenses to achieve greater magnification

    Anton van Leeuwenhoek used his knowledge of grinding lenses to achieve greater magnification which he utilised to make a microscope, enabling detailed observations to be made of bacteria

  • Joseph Jackson Lister created an achromatic lens to eradicating the chromatic effect caused by different wavelengths of light

  • Ernst Abbe discovers the Abbe sine condition (a condition that must be fulfilled by a lens or other optical system in order for it to produce sharp images), a breakthrough in microscope design, which was until then largely based on trial and error

  • Ernst Ruska starts to build the first electron microscope