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History of light microscopy

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1st century AD

Romans discovered that convex pieces of glass could make objects look larger.

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Convex glass is curved glass which rises up in the middle, creating a dome like effect. This allows for magnification, where convex lenses can make an object appear much larger than it really is.

Lenses were used in eyeglasses from as early as the 1280s in Italy. They were made up of two magnifying lenses joined by a hinge, with no sides.

13th century

At this time, glasses were only useful to those who lived beyond their 40s and could read. A few hundred years later, glasses are worn by millions of people worldwide, with a wide range of functions and designs.

1590

Hans and Zacharias Janssens, Dutch spectacle makers, invented the first compound microscope by combining 2 or more lenses.

With a concave lens at one end and a convex lens at the other, these early microscopes were able to magnify objects to 3-10x their original size.

1609

Galileo described the principles of lenses and light rays, improving both the microscope and telescope.

Giovanni Faber is believed to be the first to coin the term 'microscope', from the Greek:

1625

  • μικρόν (micron) meaning "small",
  • σκοπεῖν (skopein) meaning "to look at"

Prior to this, Galileo called his compound microscope the "occhiolino", meaning "little eye".

1665

Robert Hooke published Micrographia and coined the term 'cell' as the smallest complete parts of an organism.

Hooke, upon viewing the cell walls of cork plant tissue, was reminded of the cells of a monastery (cellula were the small rooms monks inhabited), so coined the word 'cell'.

1674

Van Leeuwenhoek made rounder lenses which produced greater magnification of up to 270x with a single lens.

Further improvements by companies like Zeiss and Spencer saw quality instruments like today's compound microscope begin to emerge.

19th century

Carl Zeiss (Image: ZEISS Archives)

In 1846, Carl Zeiss founded a workshop for precision machining and optics in the German city of Jena. Still in business today as ZEISS, his workshop is now one the largest optical firms in the world. For more information, see: Carl Zeiss - a biography | ZEISSIn 1846, Carl Zeiss opened a workshop for precision mechanics and optical instruments in Jena. He focused more and more on microscope production....Zeiss

1873

Ernst Abbe discovered an optical formula to show that the maximum resolution of traditional optical microscopy could not be better than 0.2 µm.

Ernst Abbe (Image: ZEISS Archives)

Ernst Abbe was a German physicist who made many contributions to the field of microscopy, working with Carl Zeiss and Otto Schott to develop optical instruments. Abbe was also at the forefront of labour reform, putting social benefits such as an 8-hour workday, health insurance and retirement pay in place as employee rights. For more information on Abbe, see https://www.zeiss.com/corporate/en/about-zeiss/past/history/ernst-abbe.html

1957

Confocal microscopy was invented at Harvard University by Marvin Minsky.

2014

Betzig, Moerner and Hell were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy, breaking Abbe's limit.

History of Light Microscopy: An overview

2014

1957

1873

1674

1665

1625

1609

1590

1st century

13th century

19thcentury

Convex glass discovered

First spectacles

Janssen's compound microscope

Galileo

Term 'microscope' first used

Hooke's Micrographia

Leeuwenhoek

Carl Zeiss

Abbe's diffraction limit

Confocal microscopy

Super-resolution

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