Life and Evolution

History of Microscope Pt.3 - 20th Century

19,000 BCE

At the turn of the 19th/20th centuries Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization while Robert Koch discovered his famous or infamous postulates: the anthrax bacillus, the tuberculosis bacillus and the cholera vibrio.

Understanding Of Life

2000 BCE

The exact mechanisms of abiogenesis are unknown: notable hypotheses include the RNA world hypothesis (RNA-based replicators) and the iron-sulfur world hypothesis (metabolism without genetics). The process by which different lifeforms have developed throughout history via genetic mutation and natural selection is explained by evolution

History of Microscopes Pt 3 - Dino - Lite

2000 BCE

One of the more original innovations in the 21st century has been Dino-Lite Digital microscopes. Dino-Lite are handheld digital microscopes, not much larger than a fat pen. They offer low power zoom capability with magnification up to 500x. They have had a marked impact on industrial inspection applications.

Stanley Miller

1998 BCE

The Miller-Urey Experiment demonstrated how some biological molecules, such as simple amino acids, could have arisen abiotically, that is through non-boilogical processes, under conditions thought to be similar to those of the early earth.

Lynn Margulis

1981 BCE

She formulated the symbiotic theory of evolution (SET), which deals with the interconnection of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei), explaining the emergence of new species by a mechanism known as “symbiogenesis”

History of Microscopes Pt.3 - Electron Microscope

1931 BCE

Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska invented the first electron microscope that blasted past the optical limitations of the light. Physics dictates that light microscopes are limited by the physics of light to 500x or 1000x magnification and a resolution of 0.2 micrometers. Knoll and Ruska built a transmission electron microscope (TEM) - one that transmits a beam of electrons (as opposed to light) through the specimen.

History of Microscopes Pt. 3 - Digital Microscopes

1900 BCE

Digital microscopes allow for live image transmission to a TV or computer screen and have helped revolutionize microphotography. Digital microscopes simply integrate a digital microscope camera on the trinocular port of a standard microscope. An alternative and more flexible solution is simply to place a digital microscope camera on a trinocular microscope.

HIstory of Microscopes Pt.3 - 18th/19th Centuries

1863 BCE

one of the several new manufacturers of microscopes, the Ernst Leitz company, addressed a mechanical issue with the introduction of the first revolving turret with no less than five objectives

Cell Theory

1850 BCE

Cell theory is a widely accepted explanation of the relationship between cells and living things. Cell theory holds true for all living things, no matter how big or small, or how simple or complex. Since according to research, cells are common to all living things, they can provide information about all life. And because all cells come from other cells.

History of Microscopes Pt. 2 - Antonie Van Leeuwen hock - The father of the Microscope

1839 BCE

He had discovered bacteria. He had earned his title of the Father of the Microscope. Interestingly, it took until 1839, nearly two hundred years later, before cells were finally acknowledged as the basic units of life. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek builds a simple microscope with one lens to examine blood, yeast and insects. He is the first to describe cells and bacteria. He invents new methods for making lenses that allow for magnifications of up to 270 times.

History of Microscopes Pt.3 - 18th/19th Centuries

1830 BCE

Joseph Lister solved the problem of spherical aberration (light bends at different angles depending on where it hits the lens) by placing lenses at precise distances from each other. Combined, these two discoveries contributed towards a marked improvement in the quality of image. Previously, due to the poor quality of glass and imperfect lens, microscopists had been viewing nothing but distorted images - somewhat like the first radios were extremely crackly.

Louis Pasteur

1822 BCE

Louis Pasteur discovered that microbes were responsible for souring alcohol and came up with the process of pasteurization, where bacteria are destroyed by heating beverages and then allowing them to cool. His work in germ theory also led him and his team to create vaccinations for anthrax and rabies.

Lazzaro Spallanzani

1765 BCE

Spallanzani's first scientific work was in 1765 (Essay on microscopic observations regarding the generation system of Messrs. Needham and Buffon) which was the first systematic rebuttal of the theory of the spontaneous generation.

John Needham

1745 BCE

John Needham showed that microorganisms flourished in various soups that had been exposed to the air. He claimed that there was a "life force" present in the molecules of all inorganic matter, including air and the oxygen in it, that could cause spontaneous generation to occur, thus accounting for the presence of bacteria in his soups. He even briefly boiled some of his soup and poured it into "clean" flasks with cork lids, and microorganisms still grew there.

History of Microscopes Pt. 3 - 18th/19th Centuries

1730 BCE

The next major step in the history of the microscope occurred another 100 years later with the invention of the achromatic lens by Charles Hall, in the 1730s. He discovered that by using a second lens of different shape and refracting properties, he could realign colors with minimal impact on the magnification of the first lens

Francesco Redi

1697 BCE

Redi gained fame for his controlled experiments. One set of experiments refuted the popular notion of spontaneous generation—a belief that living organisms could arise from nonliving matter. Redi has been called the "father of modern parasitology" and the "founder of experimental biology".

What is Cell Theory?

1665 BCE

The cell theory holds true for all living things, no matter how big or small, or how simple or complex. Since cells are common to all living things, they can provide information about all life. And because all cells come from other cells, scientists can study cells to learn about growth, reproduction, and all other functions that living things perform.

History of the Microscope Pt. 1

1600 BCE

Grinding glass to use for spectacles and magnifying glasses was commonplace during the 13th century. In the late 16th century several Dutch lens makers designed devices that magnified objects, but in 1609 Galileo Galilei perfected the first device known as a microscope.

History of Microscopes Pt. 2 - Compound Microscopes

1590 BCE

Hans Lippershey and his son, Zaccharias Hanssen was experimenting with a variety of lenses. In the late 1590?s, they used several lenses in a tube and were amazed to see that the object at the end of the tube was magnified significantly beyond the capability of a magnifying glass. They had just invented the compound microscope. That is to say, they had discovered that an image magnified by a single lens can be further magnified by a second or more lenses

HIstory of Microscope Pt. 2 - Spectacles

1306 BCE

In any event, a local monk, Girodina da Rivalta gave a sermon in 1306 in which he enthusiastically endorsed spectacles as a terrific invention and in passing, indicated that they had been in use for about 20 years. Finally, in 1289, another local from the Popozo family bemoaned that "I am so debilitated by age that without the glasses known as spectacles, I would no longer be able to read or write.

History of Microscopes Pt.1

1300 BCE

In the 13th Century (1284) Salvino D'Armato degli Armati of Florence (Italy) invented the wearable eye glass that would magnify objects allowing the user to see better. Through some investigation, Salvino discovered that convex pieces of glass, the appearance of objects was magnified. This allowed him to develop the eye glasses.

History of Microscopes Pt.2 - Telescopes

1300 BCE

Galileo immediately began to work with lenses. In a short timeframe, he developed an improved telescope with a focusing device and went on to conquer the stars. That said, we should also pay tribute to Sir Isaac Newton who around the same time in the UK, invented the reflecting telescope.