Microscope

The microscope is an instrument that magnifies the image of small objects such that they become observable by humans. Here, small (or microscopic) means below the spatial resolution of the human eye (around 100μm).

The history of the microscope

See:

• http://www.archive.org/details/CantorLecuturesTheMicroscope
• http://www.worldscibooks.com/popsci/4034.html
• http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/233106.ctl
• Minute Particulars: Microscopy and Eighteenth-Century Narrative
• The Quest for the Invisible: Microscopy in the Enlightenment

• Contents: Introduction; Part 1 The Definition of Microscopical Objects 1680–1740: Production and visibility of microscopes in the first half of the 18th century; The study of animalcules at the turn of the 18th century; Insects, hermaphrodite and ambiguity. Part 2 The Break with the Past 1740–1760s: Towards marketing strategies for the microscope in the second half of the 18th century; Abraham Trembly, the polyp and new directions for microscopical research; The disputes over authority and microscopical observations. Part 3 Infusoria and Microscopical Experiments: The True Invisible Objects 1760s–1800s: The quantifying spirit in microscopical research and keeping up with invisible objects; The emergence of the systematics of infusoria; From spontaneous generation to the limits of life: microscopical experimentalist research from the 1760s to 1800; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Further reading

• Microscopy Special. Nature News Specials 3 June 2009.

Microscopes are biologists' window to life — and advances in microscopy over recent years are revealing some breathtaking new views. Here Nature profiles five microscopes that are changing the ways that researchers see the world, and examines the challenges involved in collecting and interpreting the microscopic image.

• Introduction: Magnifying power: New microscopes are revealing sights that have never been seen before. Nature profiles five machines that are changing how biologists view the world.
• Seeing the system: The single plane illumination microscope allows living samples to be monitored over hours or days. Alison Abbott looks into a future of systems microscopy.
• Microscope for the masses: Could microscopes be mass produced for as little as $10 apiece? Erika Check Hayden profiles the 'scope-on-a-chip' that could enable high-throughput imaging.
• The big and the bold: The ultrahigh voltage electron microscope in Osaka is the most powerful of its kind in the world. David Cyranoski sees a monster at work.
• The naked microscope: Can biologists bear to part with their molecular tags? Heidi Ledford reports on the microscope in a Harvard basement that allows researchers to go label-free.
• The glorious resolution: Stefan Hell has engineered a light microscope able to resolve structures that were once thought off limits. Alison Abbot reports on a super-resolution machine.
• Microscopic marvels: Microscopes are changing the face of biology. Researchers should innovate and collaborate if they want to be part of the new vision.
• A microscopic reality tale: The earliest microscopes shed light on a once-invisible world. But, Patricia Fara explains, microscopists were uncertain about how well the images reflected reality — just as they are today.