Timeline
History of light microscopy
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Throughout the timeline, hover over these symbols for more information
1st century AD
Romans discovered that convex pieces of glass could make objects look larger.
Use the arrows to navigate through the timeline
13th century
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.
1590
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.
Hans and Zacharias Janssens, Dutch spectacle makers, invented the first compound microscope by combining 2 or more lenses.
1609
Galileo described the principles of lenses and light rays, improving both the microscope and telescope.
1625
Giovanni Faber is believed to be the first to coin the term 'microscope', from the Greek:
- μικρόν (micron) meaning "small",
- σκοπεῖν (skopein) meaning "to look at"
1665
Robert Hooke published Micrographia and coined the term 'cell' as the smallest complete parts of an organism.
1674
Van Leeuwenhoek made rounder lenses which produced greater magnification of up to 270x with a single lens.
19th century
Further improvements by companies like Zeiss and Spencer saw quality instruments like today's compound microscope begin to emerge.
Carl Zeiss (Image: ZEISS Archives)
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)
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
Hooke's Micrographia
Carl Zeiss
Confocal microscopy
First spectacles
Galileo
13th century
19th century
1957
1665
1609
1st century
2014
1873
1674
1625
1590
Term 'microscope' first used
Janssen's compound microscope
Abbe's diffraction limit
Super-resolution
Convex glass discovered
Leeuwenhoek
Click on any of the + icons to go to the corresponding page of the timeline
You are now up to date on the key events in the history of light microscopy! To re-start the tutorial or repeat the exercises, use the buttons below:
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Transcript
Timeline
History of light microscopy
Start
Throughout the timeline, hover over these symbols for more information
1st century AD
Romans discovered that convex pieces of glass could make objects look larger.
Use the arrows to navigate through the timeline
13th century
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.
1590
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.
Hans and Zacharias Janssens, Dutch spectacle makers, invented the first compound microscope by combining 2 or more lenses.
1609
Galileo described the principles of lenses and light rays, improving both the microscope and telescope.
1625
Giovanni Faber is believed to be the first to coin the term 'microscope', from the Greek:
1665
Robert Hooke published Micrographia and coined the term 'cell' as the smallest complete parts of an organism.
1674
Van Leeuwenhoek made rounder lenses which produced greater magnification of up to 270x with a single lens.
19th century
Further improvements by companies like Zeiss and Spencer saw quality instruments like today's compound microscope begin to emerge.
Carl Zeiss (Image: ZEISS Archives)
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)
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
Hooke's Micrographia
Carl Zeiss
Confocal microscopy
First spectacles
Galileo
13th century
19th century
1957
1665
1609
1st century
2014
1873
1674
1625
1590
Term 'microscope' first used
Janssen's compound microscope
Abbe's diffraction limit
Super-resolution
Convex glass discovered
Leeuwenhoek
Click on any of the + icons to go to the corresponding page of the timeline
You are now up to date on the key events in the history of light microscopy! To re-start the tutorial or repeat the exercises, use the buttons below:
Start AGAIN
Summary
Sorting activity