History of Microscopes

Creation of the Reading Stone

Nov 12, 1000

A glass sphere that magnified reading materials when it was placed on top of them was invented. This was the first vision aid called a reading stone. Inventor unknown.

Eye glasses invented

Nov 12, 1284

Salvino D’Armate is credited with inventing the first eye glasses that were wearable.

First cells are noticed

Nov 12, 1665

Robert Hooke looked at a sliver (piece) of cork through a microscope lens and noticed cells in it.

First simple microscope

Nov 12, 1674

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek built a simple microscope with only one lens to examine yeast, blood, insects and other tiny objects. He was the first person to describe bacteria.

First compound microscope created

Nov 12, 1830

Joseph Jackson Lister created a model of the compound microscope. He showed that several weak lenses used together at certain distances gave good images without blurring.

Electron microscope invented

Nov 12, 1931

Ernst Ruska co-invented the electron microscope. This made it possible to view objects as small as the diameter of an atom.

Scanning Tunnel Microscope

Nov 13, 1981

Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the scanning tunnel microscope that is the strongest microscope to date.

Cellscope

Nov 13, 2011

Scientists are working on a cellscope. The cellscope is a high magnification attachment for cell phones. It would allow scientists to take detailed images of microscopic items using the phone’s camera.