Microscopes: Websites

In the era of smartphones, the Internet, and frugal science tools such as Foldscope, which costs about a dollar for materials, even young people like the 2nd grader, Aditi, can be part of a scientific community. Aditi used a Foldscope to examine lice, just as historical microscopists Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek did. By Troy Smythe, January 24, 2017.

"Chances are that microscopes have played an important role in promoting your health. Since their invention about 400 years ago, microscopes have helped us to learn about the tiny germs all around and inside us, and have helped to deal with them when they make us sick.
Revealing the Invisible: A History of Glass and the Microscope tells some of those stories with the help of 14 microscopes on loan from Museum Boerhaave, the Dutch National Museum for the History of Science and Medicine...." by Marv Bolt April 24, 2016.

Blog: Pamphlet in the Rakow Library describing an 18th century double reflecting microscope by London Opticians P. and J. Dollond, by Marvin Bolt, January 8, 2014

Experience the "Be Microscopic" interactive that “shrinks” visitors down to the size of a cell, by Kathryn Wieczorek

Robert Hooke’s "Micrographia" (1665), the first book dedicated to observations of objects under a microscope, caused a sensation and inspired others to take up the microscope. By James Galbraith, May 26, 2016.

Describes how the microscope exhibit team translated historical methods into videos showing how lensmaking, grinding glass, and flameworking were used to make microscopes in the 1600s. By Marv Bolt and Beth Hylen, September 22, 2016

While Philip Henry Gosse’s work with aquariums was groundbreaking, Gosse is perhaps best remembered for his work as a naturalist and conservationist. Gosse spent countless hours observing life under his microscope. This blog discusses Gosse’s 1854 book, The aquarium: an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea, that inspired others’ explorations during a period of growing public interest in the natural world. By James Galbraith, January 13, 2016

CMoG blog about Hooke's Micrographia by Megan McGovern, December 17, 2012

How does a lens bend light? How a complex microscope works

Exhibition announcement with illustrations

Introduction to the exhibition

In 1859 French chemist Louis Pasteur set out to disprove “miasma theory” and put to rest the centuries-old notion that smells killed. Pasteur believed that floating dust particles in the air, not the smell of the air itself, were the source of the problem. Dust carried bacteria, and when they landed in liquid or on food they could make anyone who consumed them sick. The distinction between “miasma theory” and Pasteur’s “germ theory” was important since miasmatists were often lulled into a false sense of security by the lack of foul smells in places where diseases lurked. Pasteur conducted experiments using broth, a microscope, a straight necked flask, and a special glass bottle with a long, curved spout, or “swan-necked flask,” that he designed. Learn about Pasteur’s process and its impact. By Troy Smythe. July 20, 2016.

This blog post describes the MakerSpace—a place to share do-it-yourself projects, search for inspiration, and connect with fellow makers—focused on microscopes. It was held in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition Revealing the Invisible: The History of Glass and the Microscope. Visitors made microscopes, prepared their own slides, and practiced their observation skills by creating their own scientific illustrations of what they saw through the microscope. By Kathryn Wieczorek 6/6/16.

"One enduring mystery of van Leeuwenhoek’s life is whether or not he knew his contemporary, painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Their lives are seemingly intertwined. They were born within a week of each other in October of 1632 in Delft, a small, but cosmopolitan city of 20,000 known for its tapestries, pottery, tiles and paintings. They lived within blocks of each other. The connection is so strong that many have pondered the implications of these giants of 17th century art and science being acquaintances: the conversations they might have had, their influence on their work. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence they knew or even met each other." By James Galbraith, November 17, 2016

Visitors to the special exhibition Revealing the Invisible: The History of Glass and the Microscope, currently on view at the Rakow Research Library, can examine portraits of key figures in the history of microscopy alongside the instruments and books they created. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Joseph Jackson Lister, and Louis Pasteur all have the honor of their visages in the exhibition. But one prominent scientist is conspicuously absent. Where is Robert Hooke? Why don’t we have a picture of this pioneer in the investigation of the microscopic world and the author of Micrographia, one of the most important books in the history of microscopes? Katherine Larson investigates this mystery. By Katherine Larson, August 18, 2016.

This post comes from Laura Hashimoto and Bonnie Hodul, Rakow Library interns who are helping conserve the Whitefriars stained glass cartoon collection over the summer of 2016 in conjunction with West Lake Conservators. By bringing together rare books and archival material from the Rakow’s collection, didactics explaining innovative applications of glass in the scientific community, and displays of the various microscopes that have been created over the past few centuries, this exhibition really got the authors to think about how these tools come into play in conservation. Discusses using CMoG’s Conservation Lab’s Leica Wild M8 stereomicroscope to focus on the tiny, microscopic picture to grasp a better understanding of the materials they encounter in conservation.

Diagram

"How the optical microscope became a nanoscope," Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 for having bypassed a presumed scientific limitation stipulating that an optical microscope can never yield a resolution better than 0.2 micrometres. Using the fluorescence of molecules, scientists can now monitor the interplay between individual molecules inside cells; they can observe disease-related proteins aggregate and they can track cell division at the nanolevel. This is a popular explanation in pdf format.

International society of biologists organized to encourage the use of microscopy. Its members are mostly scientists and educators who use various kinds of microscopes in their research and teaching–light and electron microscopes, fluorescence and confocal microscopes, and other tools for visualizing the small. It publishes reports of research on invertebrate biology (in its journal Invertebrate Biology), conducts annual meetings on research using microscopy, and organizes workshops on techniques of microscopy and on biology of organisms studied by microscopy

Digital facsimile of the 1667 edition of Hooke's "Micrographia," by chapters, from the History of Science website, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The production Microscopes including microscope simulations, photo galleries, readings, and a quiz, is based on the 1925 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1953 and 1986 Nobel Prizes in Physics, which all were awarded for the development of different kinds of microscope.

The Microscopy Society of America (MSA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of techniques and applications of microscopy and microanalysis in all relevant scientific disciplines. Useful website with a wide range of resources

Museum Boerhaave, the National Museum for the History of Science and Medicine, collections include16th century microscopes by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and a wide array of other historical microscopes

The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry – Eric Betzig, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA. Stefan W. Hell, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
William E. Moerner, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. This page includes: "Surpassing the limitations of the light microscope" and a variety of resources for learning more about stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, developed by Stefan Hell in 2000; and single-molecule microscopy, developed by Eric Betzig and William Moerner, working separately.

1998-2015 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University

Peer-reviewed papers on the history of the light microscope and mounted slides, microscope technique and DIY apparatus, digital photomicrography and results of studies made using the light microscope on microscopic life and biological, geological and materials structures

International organization for all amateur and professional light microscopists, based in the UK

Sections include: Biographical introduction; chronology; architecture; Micrographia 1665; Micrographia Restaurata 1745; England's Leonardo

International society supports research and education relating to microscopes and the science of microscopy. Website includes resources for schools

An interactive look at some of the key advances in microscopy. Find out more by browsing or searching the Science Learning Hub

Interactive tutorial on microscope basics

Create your own cell phone microscope:

How to Make Microscope Slides for Science Fair Projects, by Tammy Sadler

To learn more about scientific illustrations, check out the American Museum of Natural History’s "Opulent Oceans" website.