The Microscope

Diseases have claimed millions of lives over the course of human history. The causes of many of the illnesses that have plagued the human race have been found at the microscopic level. The microscope, one of the greatest human inventions, has helped find causes, and thereby treatments, for many of these illnesses. Moreover, the microscope can assist in solving crimes, as well as see the cells that make humans who they are.

The origins of the microscope can be traced back to the Roman invention of glass in the first century A.D. When the Romans experimented with different shapes of glass, they discovered that when the middle of the glass was thicker than the edges, the things that were seen through the glass appeared larger. This discovery evolved into the first eye glass, which was made in the thirteenth century. The first microscope, a simple version of what we have today, was first invented in 1590 by the Dutch opticians, Zacharias Janssen and his father, Hans. The first person to build and actually use a microscope scientifically was Anton van Leeuwenhoek in the seventeenth century. He had achieved much greater magnification than other scientists, and because of this, he was able to be the first to see miniscule creatures, such as bacteria and microorganisms living in a drop of water.

One of the reasons that the microscope is a great invention is the help that it has provided in the field of medicine. The microscope has helped to diagnose and find treatments for many diseases. An example of this is seen when looking at how cancer is diagnosed. Physicians can take biopsies of a tumor or growth, and examine them under a microscope. At the microscopic level, they can look at the patient’s cells to see if they are cancerou...

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...the microscope has improved life. Furthermore, through technological improvement and increased usage, the microscope has to advanced our scientific knowledge. That is why the microscope is the world’s greatest invention.

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Rice, George. http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/research_methods/microscopy/fluromic.html. 19 November 2013. 29 March 2014.