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Early History of the Microscope
The microscope is today synonymous with scientific study. However, this was not always the case. Prior to the nineteenth century, the microscope was seen by many contemporary academics as a novelty, and not capable of serious scientific study. Developments in the design, and style of the instrument from the late eighteenth century launched the microscope into the center of the scientific community.
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The Creation of the Microscope
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The inventor of the microscope has been debated by historians for years to no avail. Several theories, however, indicate that father and son Dutch spectacle-makers, Hans and Zacharias Janssen invented the first compound microscope in 1590. The term "compound" refers to the design of a microscope that uses two or more objective lenses to achieve magnification.
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The term “microscope” wasn’t penned until 1624 in a letter written by a member of the first Accademia Dei Lincei, an Italian science academy. Galileo Galilei was a member of this academy, and many believe he was the first scientist to use a microscope.
Meanwhile in England, the Royal Society established themselves in 1660, and became an advocate for the development of microbiology, and the instrument that made it possible. Still in existence today, the Royal Society’s primary aim was to promote science, and its benefits to mankind. The discovery, and subsequent development of the microscope helped launch the Royal Society as a serious scientific society. As one of its first publications, the Society published Robert Hooke’s groundbreaking book, Micrographia, in 1665.
Robert Hooke's sketch of a flea from Micrographia. Source: British Library
Portrait of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek using simple microscope. Source: Vox
Development of the Microscope
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A British natural philosopher, and Secretary for the Society, Hooke coined the term “cell” in his publication. He investigated insects, and plants with the use of a compound microscope. Using a compound microscope, Hooke exposed an previously invisible world to the scientific community. His illustrations depicted intricate creatures such as the common flea, as he skillfully represented the mechanisms that allowed these organisms to function. The design of microscope used in these observations was coined the “Hooke microscope,” and acted as a starting point for the microscope to develop.
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Micrographia inspired another important figure for the microscope, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. A Dutch scientist, he is considered alongside Hooke as one of the “Fathers of Microbiology.” Leeuwenhoek helped shift the microscope from a novelty, to an instrument with value in the study of the natural sciences. He crafted a simple microscope — an instrument with only one lens — that offered clearer microscopic images than a compound microscope, which he recorded through sketches, and diagrams. He also developed new methods of grinding lenses, creating powerful lenses that offered clearer observations. The simplicity, and power of Leeuwenhoek's microscope highlighted the possibilities the instrument could offer for the development of science.
A Resurgence of Interest
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The nineteenth century experience an advent of industrial expansion throughout Europe. The creation of railways, the growth of cities, and a shift in social, and economic map of Europe paved the way for scientific discovery. Prior to the nineteenth century, microscopes were trusted up to a point. Issues with aberrations — which resulted in imperfect images — in the lenses of microscopes limited its usefulness in the study of natural sciences. Aberrations were caused by light spreading out, rather than directed at a specific point, resulting in blurred or out of focus images. In 1824, Joseph Jackson Lister, a British optician, and wine merchant, began his work to correct this issue. In 1830, Lister published an article entitles “On Some Properties in Achromatic Object-Glasses Applicable to the Improvement of the Microscope,” outlining his discovery that the correction of lens combinations, and their distances from one another minimized blurring, and imperfections. This propelled the microscope into the center of scientific investigations.
Scientific expeditions brought forth new understanding of natural sciences, and the next rung in the ladder of development for microscopes emerged. While on an expedition to Australia Robert Brown, a Scottish botanist, and paleobotanist identified how the structure of pollen grains could help identify the classification of plants. In the eventual publication of his findings, he coined the term “cell nucleus.” Academics have since questioned the ability to view the intricate cell structures with the microscope he used; however, the microscope still exists, and experiments have proved he had the capability of viewing in a cell in minute detail.
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Joseph Jackson Lister with microscope. Source: Encyclopedia Britannia