Development history and technological innovation of microscope

The microscope, an optical instrument composed of a lens or a combination of lenses, has carried mankind's dream of exploring the microscopic world since it was pioneered by Jensen and his son in the Netherlands in 1590 and has become a milestone in mankind's entry into the atomic age. After hundreds of years of development and evolution, microscopes have gradually developed from early simple optical instruments to high-end technological products such as scanning tunneling microscopes. Their application fields have also expanded from biology and medicine to many cutting-edge fields such as materials science and nanotechnology. Next, let us walk into the world of microscopes and explore the mysteries and stories behind them.

The development history of microscope

▲ Early microscopes

In 1590, the Jensen and son in the Netherlands first made a microscope. They cleverly placed the lens in a circular tube so that tiny objects near the bottom of the tube could be magnified. Although their innovation can be regarded as a preliminary attempt, the first microscope at the time was not really put into use as a scientific instrument because it had a magnification of only 9 times and the image was slightly blurred.

In 1663, British scientist Robert Hooke made a double microscope and used it to observe the structure of cork flakes. He was surprised to find that these structures looked like small rectangular rooms, so he cleverly named them "cells." This discovery laid a solid foundation for subsequent cytological research.

In 1675, Dutch biologist Anthony Leeuwenhoek built the first single microscope with a magnification of 266 times. This microscope is mainly composed of a convex lens, a copper plate, a long needle (used as a stage) and a moving slide bar, laying an important foundation for the later development of microscope technology.

▲ Revolution in microscope technology

In 1878, the German physicist Abbe proposed an improvement plan for the optical microscope based on his optical research results and successfully invented the "modern" optical microscope. With a magnification of approximately 2000 times, this microscope has revolutionized research in the fields of biology and medicine.

In the 1930s, German physicist Ruska and electrical engineer Knorr joined hands to create the first electron microscope in history. At first, the magnification of this microscope was only 14.4 times. However, after continuous improvement and optimization, its magnification can reach tens of thousands of times. This breakthrough achievement is due to the application of the principles of electron optics, in which electron beams and electron lenses replace traditional beams and optical lenses, bringing a new perspective of observation to the scientific field.

In 1951, British engineer Charles Outley successfully developed the first scanning electron microscope. This microscope is not only equipped with advanced equipment such as lens barrel, sample chamber, detector, monitor and computer host, but also has the ability to observe the shape and composition of surface ultrastructures of various solid substances. Its unique working principle allows image pixels to be swept from left to right and from top to bottom, thus providing a truly practical scanning electron microscope technology.

In the * 1980s, Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rore jointly developed the scanning tunnel microscope. This technology causes continuous changes in the current by constantly changing the distance between the probe and the surface of the material. By image-processing these current changes, the uneven shape at the atomic level can be displayed.

▲ Modern microscope technology

From the birth of optical microscopy, to the innovation of electron microscopy, to the milestone breakthrough of scanning tunnel microscopy, microscopy technology, along with modern science, has jointly written a glorious journey of more than 400 years. During this journey, the microscope not only witnessed the glorious moments of scientific giants such as Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein, but also became an important driving force for scientific revolution, technological innovation, and manufacturing technology leaps. Through the microscope, humans can get a glimpse of the magical world of objects at the microscopic scale. It not only reveals the mystery of the microstructure, but also discovers countless amazing aesthetic miracles in exploration.