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Both the later Greeks and the Romans experimented with the magnifying power of curved glass surfaces, which had been produced in both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The earliest lenses were crystals, and later water-filled glass spheres. The Greek scholar Euclid (325-265 BC) studied the geometric nature of optics. Several Arabic mathematicians, notably Al-Kindi and Ibn Sahl, investigated "burning lenses" and magnifiers between 800 and 1000 AD.

The first actual microscopes were constructed about the year 1600 by Hans Lippershey (1570-1619, who developed the practical telescope) and Zacharias Janssen (1580-1638). Galileo developed his own version from these, which he called occhiolino ("little eye"). By the 17th century, microscopes were being widely used for biological studies. Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) is widely considered the "father of microbiology" for his studies of animal tissues and bacteria.

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14y ago

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