How Modern Technology Has Changed Microscopy

The simplest form of magnification is ironically a drop of water

. It makes a perfect lens. Have you ever noticed the type of a magazine or newspaper while a drop of water rests on it? The type face becomes bolder, or magnified, due to the refraction of light coming back through the clear drop of water.

Refraction is the key to how lenses work. A lens made of crystal or glass can be concave or convex. The concave lens tends to refract light so that an image is smaller when viewed through it. A convex lens will make an object larger. The culmination of lens size and conglomeration of lens type can make a telescope or microscope. In this article we will look at the advances in lens design and application that has sent microscopy into the future.

The first lenses were accidental. Orbs of glass were made for ornamental reasons, but when placed over objects, the observer noticed them becoming larger. Also, the sun could be focused to a point that would ignite parchment or wood. This focusing of light was easily observed, thus sparking the interest of the thinking minds of that age to develop further.

Galileo is known as the Father of the Telescope, but he tinkered with lenses for microscopy as well. His lenses were hand ground to his specifications, yet his specifications were trial and error. The advent of his telescope revealed the planets and even the moons of Jupiter, and this became his passion, not microscopy. Yet the process of grinding and polishing lenses was handed down to the next generation of microscope builder.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek developed his own type of lens, which was spherical. His microscopes enabled him to view extremely tiny living creatures, called protozoa (single-celled animals and plants), yet he named "animalcules." He could see blood cells and yeasts as well, making him the Father of Microscopy.

The grinding and shaping of lenses was perfected by the American Charles A. Spencer, his design being used by physicians and the new field of microbiology. This new design had convex and concave lenses used in unison to bring more brightness and eye relief to the microscope. Magnification now became the priority of microscope developers.

Coated lenses were the next step. The special coatings enabled light to carry along the natural colors of the subject without any apparent aberrations, thus making a view that was bright and clear. Focusing controls were streamlined for better precision.

The first light microscope with separate low - to - high power objectives was the obvious next step, enabling a specimen to be view in a more panoramic low power, to an intense high power mode. Details never before realized were now in the possession of modern day researchers in both the medical and biological fields. Metallurgical microscopy was now easier, and geology had a new frontier.

The latest in technology is the invention of the Electron Microscope. Instead of lenses made of glass or crystal, this powerful instrument uses magnets to focus a beam of electron bouncing off of the specimen. This enables research scientists to see objects nearly at the molecular level, so that even DNA cannot hide from our eyes.

Technology is ever-advancing; the next microscope may be one that actually sees individual protons and electrons in and atom. This would be a marvel of science, leading to the fabrication of new and fascinating materials.

by: Andrew Long

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