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Who invent the microscope?

Updated: 9/13/2023
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11y ago

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The first compound microscope was made in 1590 in The Netherlands. Hans Lippershey, Sacharias Jansen, and Hans Jenssen, all eyeglass makers, have each been given credit for the invention. Apparently working independently but at the same time, they developed almost identical concepts.
It is was Hans Jansse.But many think that it was Anthon Van Leeuwenhoek.

MicroscopesThe first compound microscope was made in 1590 in The Netherlands. Hans Lippershey, Sacharias Jansen, and Hans Jenssen, all eyeglass makers, have each been given credit for the invention. See the related link for more information.

Additional Information:

If a microscope is any instrument that allows the inspection of objects that the unaided eye can't see, then reading stones (meniscal [rounded], polished glass lenses) were the first microscopes, Egypt, ca 7,000+ BC (inventor not known). These were probably very similar to what Leeuwenhoek found being used by cloth merchants (ca. 1648) to count the threads in cloth. The next candidate would be spectacles (eyeglasses). There is little controversy over the date: ca. 1285 CE. There is more contention concerning the inventor, but Salvino D'Armate is most often credited with the first wearable eyeglasses.

If the definition of microscope requires the use of an instrument, in or upon which, to mount the lenses, then eyeglasses fit this definition too. If multiple lenses are the criteria, then the compound microscope is the choice. Three Dutch lens makers are variously credited with this invention, ca. 1590. Hans and Sacharias Janssen (father and son), and Hans Lippershey, apparently working independently but at the same time, developed almost identical concepts.

Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (ca. 1668) and Galileo Galilei (ca. 1624), are sometimes credited with the invention of the microscope, but they were actually the authors of its improvement, not its inventors. Interestingly, it was a friend of Galileo's, Johannes Faber, that gave the name, microscope, to Galileo's instrument. (So, in this left-handed way, perhaps Galileo actually did 'invent' the microscope.)

Electron MicroscopesThere are many different types of microscopes, and the only common characteristic between them is that they magnify objects. Although the electron microscope and the light microscope both strive to "see" all things tiny, their methods are very different. The two types of electron microscopes can magnify objects multitudes greater than the light microscope and are advanced pieces of technology. For that reason, there are more precise dates on their inventions. However, throughout history, many improvements have been made to each microscope from many scientists and research teams.

The first Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) was constructed by Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska in 1931. A TEM uses a thin specimen stained with atoms of a heavy metal (like gold) and projects a beam of electrons. The image returns as a pattern of transmitted electrons based on the density gradient on the specimen.

The first Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is a more recent invention, though original designs go back to Max Knoll (1935). The design was further advanced by M. von Ardenne (1938) to create the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM). The SEM was first used to view a solid (opaque) specimen in 1953, as is used today, with Dennis McMullan and his team. From there, the SEM went through a series of improvements, with notable names such as O. C. Wells, Everhart, and Gary Stewart. The SEM uses an electron beam to excite the "secondary electrons" on the metal-plated surface of the specimen. The SEM has a great depth of field and is useful in displaying the specimen's topography

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Elza Olson

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1y ago
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6y ago

The first compound microscope was made in 1590 in The Netherlands. Hans Lippershey, Sacharias Jansen, and Hans Jenssen, all eyeglass makers, have each been given credit for the invention. Apparently working independently but at the same time, they developed almost identical concepts.
It is was Hans Jansse.But many think that it was Anthon Van Leeuwenhoek.

MicroscopesThe first compound microscope was made in 1590 in The Netherlands. Hans Lippershey, Sacharias Jansen, and Hans Jenssen, all eyeglass makers, have each been given credit for the invention. See the related link for more information.

Additional Information:

If a microscope is any instrument that allows the inspection of objects that the unaided eye can't see, then reading stones (meniscal [rounded], polished glass lenses) were the first microscopes, Egypt, ca 7,000+ BC (inventor not known). These were probably very similar to what Leeuwenhoek found being used by cloth merchants (ca. 1648) to count the threads in cloth. The next candidate would be spectacles (eyeglasses). There is little controversy over the date: ca. 1285 CE. There is more contention concerning the inventor, but Salvino D'Armate is most often credited with the first wearable eyeglasses.

If the definition of microscope requires the use of an instrument, in or upon which, to mount the lenses, then eyeglasses fit this definition too. If multiple lenses are the criteria, then the compound microscope is the choice. Three Dutch lens makers are variously credited with this invention, ca. 1590. Hans and Sacharias Janssen (father and son), and Hans Lippershey, apparently working independently but at the same time, developed almost identical concepts.

Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (ca. 1668) and Galileo Galilei (ca. 1624), are sometimes credited with the invention of the microscope, but they were actually the authors of its improvement, not its inventors. Interestingly, it was a friend of Galileo's, Johannes Faber, that gave the name, microscope, to Galileo's instrument. (So, in this left-handed way, perhaps Galileo actually did 'invent' the microscope.)

Electron MicroscopesThere are many different types of microscopes, and the only common characteristic between them is that they magnify objects. Although the electron microscope and the light microscope both strive to "see" all things tiny, their methods are very different. The two types of electron microscopes can magnify objects multitudes greater than the light microscope and are advanced pieces of technology. For that reason, there are more precise dates on their inventions. However, throughout history, many improvements have been made to each microscope from many scientists and research teams.

The first Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) was constructed by Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska in 1931. A TEM uses a thin specimen stained with atoms of a heavy metal (like gold) and projects a beam of electrons. The image returns as a pattern of transmitted electrons based on the density gradient on the specimen.

The first Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is a more recent invention, though original designs go back to Max Knoll (1935). The design was further advanced by M. von Ardenne (1938) to create the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM). The SEM was first used to view a solid (opaque) specimen in 1953, as is used today, with Dennis McMullan and his team. From there, the SEM went through a series of improvements, with notable names such as O. C. Wells, Everhart, and Gary Stewart. The SEM uses an electron beam to excite the "secondary electrons" on the metal-plated surface of the specimen. The SEM has a great depth of field and is useful in displaying the specimen's topography

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7y ago

The first invented is the optical microscope. The name of this inventor is hard to pin down. The first compound microscope appeared in the Netherlands by the 1620s, maybe the inventor was Cornelis Drebbel. Galileo Galilei had a compound microscope in 1625 which he called the little eye.

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11y ago

galileo

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