Fact File about the Invention of the Microscope: Date of Invention: 1595 *** Name of Inventor: Zacharias Janssen *** Lifespan of Inventor: c. 1575 - c. 1632 *** Nationality of Inventor: Dutch *** Historical Period: Renaissance (1350 to 1650) *** Category: Biological Research *** Country of Origin: Holland *** Facts about the Inventor, Zacharias Janssen, and his invention *** Fact 1: Who invented the Microscope? The Microscope was invented by Zacharias Janssen in 1595 during the Renaissance era of inventions (1350 to 1650)
Fact 2: Who invented the Microscope? Prior to the invention of the simple Microscope, glass had been invented and the Romans investigated the use of glass and how viewing objects through it, made the objects appear larger. Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65), a Roman statesman and dramatist, is said to have used a glass globe of water as a magnifier to read 'all the books of Rome'
Fact 3: Who invented the Microscope? The writer Ptolemy noted the general principle of magnification but commented that the lenses available to Romans were unsuitable for use in precise magnification. Fact 4: Who invented the Microscope? During the 1200's Venetian glass blowers are known to have produced "reading stones" that were similar to the hand-held simple magnifying lenses we still use in modern times. The reading stone was a segment of a glass sphere that could be laid against reading material to magnify the letters. Fact 5: Who invented the Microscope? The first form of eyeglasses were produced in Italy by monks between 1285-1289. These simple magnifying lenses were set into bone, metal, or leather mountings that could be balanced on the bridge of nose. The first known paintings of the use of eyeglasses was created in 1352 by the artist Tommaso da Modena. Tommaso da Modena's paintings depicts a monk wearing eye glasses perched on his nose and another using a hand held magnifier. Refer to Who invented Glasses. Fact 6: Who invented the Microscope? During the 1590's, two Dutch spectacle makers, Zacharias Jansen and his father Hans Jansen started experimenting with these early lenses. Zacharias Jansen and his father went on to invent the first compound microscope in 1595. Fact 7: Who invented the Microscope? The inventor of the compound Microscope, Zacharias Janssen, was born on c. 1575 in The Hague, Netherlands and died on c. 1632.
Fact 8: Who invented the Microscope? The early years of Zacharias Janssen were spent in The Hague, Netherlands where he was raised by his parents Hans Martens and Maeyken Meertens. He a had one sister called Sara. Fact 9: Who invented the Microscope? Following his education his first job was as a vendor but he went on to become a lens and spectacle maker. Fact 10: Who invented the Microscope? Zacharias Janssen and his father Hans Jansen began conducting experiments by mounting two lenses in a tube to enhance the magnification of small objects . Fact 11: Who invented the Microscope? The experiments involved using visible light and a system of lenses to magnify images of small samples. Fact 12: Who invented the Microscope? Peering into the device they saw that object appeared to be greatly enlarged. The object was much larger than any simple magnifying glass could ever achieve by itself.
Fact 13: Who invented the Microscope? The compound Microscope invented by Zacharias Janssen consisted of an objective lens (the lens in a microscope that is nearest the object being viewed) that produced an image that was picked up and further magnified by the second lens, called the eyepiece.
Fact 14: Who invented the Microscope? The Zacharias Janssen device was capable of magnifying three to nine times the true size. Fact 15: Who invented the Microscope? The invention of the compound Microscope by Zacharias Janssen raised the interest of many scholars and inventors. In 1609 Galileo Galilei improved the Janssen device by developing a compound microscope with a convex and a concave lens and Hans Lippershey invented the Telescope in 1608. Fact 16: Who invented the Microscope? In 1665 the English scientist Robert Hooke wrote his famous book 'Micrographia' which officially documented a wide range of observations he had made using the microscope. The descriptions of observations by Robert Hooke included the structure of fleas, lice, snowflakes and plants. It was Robert Hooke that coined the term "cell" when he compared the cells he saw in a sample of cork to the small rooms that monks lived in. Fact 17: Who invented the Microscope? These early compound microscopes provided greater magnification than the simple, single lens microscopes, but they also distorted the image more. This problem was addressed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek. Fact 18: Who invented the Microscope? The invention of the Microscope took a massive leap in 1674 when Anton van Leeuwenhoek used his knowledge of grinding lenses to achieve both far greater magnification and a less distorted image. Anton van Leeuwenhoek's compound microscope, enabled detailed observations to be made of bacteria, one of the most important discoveries in the history of biology. Anton van Leeuwenhoek is often referred to as the "Father of Microbiology". Fact 19: Who invented the Microscope? Scientists continued to improve the Microscope and in 1882, the German physician Robert Koch presented his discovery of the bacterial species 'Mycobacterium tuberculosis', the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis. Robert Koch then went on to identify and isolate the bacteria responsible for cholera. Fact 19: Who invented the Microscope? the inventor of the first compound microscope Zacharias Janssen died c. 1632 but will always be remembered for his famous invention which led to some of the most important discoveries that have ever been made. | 
