1655: In an investigation by Willem Boreel, Dutch spectacle-maker Johannes Zachariassen claims his father, Zacharias Janssen, invented the compound microscope in 1590.

Nov 17, 2025 · In 1624, the microscope officially got its name (Greek for “small” and “to view”) from the Accademia dei Lincei, a scientific academy in Rome of which Galileo was a member.

Nov 23, 2023 · Attributed to the invention of the microscope are two Dutch spectacle craftsmen, Zacharias Jansen and his father Hans. In the waning years of the 16th century, their hands gave …

1938: Just six years after the invention of the phase contrast microscope comes the electron microscope, developed by Ernst Ruska, who realized that using electrons in microscopy enhanced …

Nov 28, 2025 · Using his simple microscope, Leeuwenhoek effectively launched microbiology in 1674, and single-lensed microscopes remained popular until the 1850s. In 1827 they were used by Scottish …

Every major field of science has benefited from the use of some form of microscope, an invention that dates back to the late 16th century and a modest Dutch eyeglass maker named Zacharias Janssen.

The first useful compound microscope was constructed in the Netherlands sometime between 1590 and 1608. Three different people, all of the optometrists, have been credited with the invention at one …

Microscopes let us view an invisible world – the objects around us that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. This timeline provides a look at some of the key advances in microscopy.

Roman philosophers mentioned “burning glasses” in their writings but the first primitive microscope was not made until the late 1300’s. Two lenses were placed at opposite ends of a tube. This simple …

Little was done to improve the microscope until the middle of the 19th century when great strides were made and quality instruments like today’s microscope emerged.