History of the Microscope Worksheet

A microscope is an instrument that uses light

and lenses to magnify very small objects
to enable a better view. Microscopes have
greatly contributed to our understanding
of microbiology and in particular illness
and disease. Before the invention of the
microscope, it was believed that diseases
were caused by evil spirits or bad air called
‘miasma’. However, the invention of the
microscope enabled the observation of cells
and microorganisms that helped us better
understand the microscopic world.
The invention of the microscope spans many
centuries. Ancient Egyptians and Romans
worked with glass, experimenting with
bending light and making objects appear
bigger. In the 13th century, it was common to
use glass to magnify objects and to wear eye-
glasses (early spectacles), however, it was not
until the 16th century (1590) that two Dutch

magnify objects. The father and son team of

By sliding the tube in and out, you could focus on an object.

The term ‘microscope’ was coined in 1625 by Giovanni

Faber while referring to Galileo’s invention.
In 1665, Robert Hooke used a very simple microscope

and the pores of a cork, which he referred to as ‘cells’

because they reminded him of the rooms or ‘cells’ in
monasteries. This discovery led to the development of
cell theory. He published a book ‘Micrographia’, which
detailed his drawings and descriptions of organisms
that he viewed under the microscope. This is a copy of
a page from Micrographia, illustrating the cork cells that
he observed.
By the late 16th century, it was discovered that lenses

could further magnify an object. It was this discovery

that led Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to see microscopic
organisms that he called ‘animalcules’ (1675) for the

“Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With
observations and inquiries thereupon” by R. Hooke. Wellcome Collection is licensed under CC BY 4.0
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 History of the Microscope Worksheet

the object. Although Leuwenhoek was not recognised for his contribution to biology at the
time, he is now credited as the father of Microbiology.
The next major development in microscope
technology was not until 100 years after its
invention (1729) when Chester Moore Hall
developed the achromatic lens. An achromatic

so that the image formed does not have an

aberration (blurriness). By 1826, Joseph Jackson
Lister used this lens to improve microscope
design. Previously, microscopes were not precise
instruments, light was often refracted when
passing through lenses, altering the image of
the object being observed. The achromatic lens
improved the visual acuteness of the microscope

The 18th and 19th centuries saw improvements

in microscope mechanics such as design and
quality. Microscopes became smaller and more "Oil painting; portrait of A.V. Leeuwenhoek Wellcome M0001259.
stable, and further lens developments solved jpg" by Jan Verkolje is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
many optical problems of their predecessors.
Interestingly, many people around the world worked on similar microscope issues and
concurrently developed solutions to these problems. Consequently, the development of the
microscope becomes intertwined at this point. For example, in 1878 Ernst Abbe designed
a microscope that would allow more colours of the spectrum to be visible as light passed
through the lens.

microscope uses electrons instead of light to view an image. Modern electron microscopes
can view objects as small as the diameter of an atom.
Since the 1930s, even more advances have occurred, such as the invention of the Phase
Contrast Microscope which allows for viewing of transparent samples, as well as the
Scanning Electron Microscope, which can scan the surface of an object using a beam of
electrons.
Additionally, there have been advances in technology associated with microscopes, such as

Computerised Axial Tomography (CAT) scanner was developed that combines many x-rays to
generate cross-sectional views of 3D objects such as people. In fact, you may even have had
a CAT scan done yourself!

researchers were even able to see the atoms of a virus using a cryo-electron microscope.
Who knows what the next advancement will be…

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