Essay Sample on Revolutionizing Human Vision: Who Invented the Microscope?

Introduction

The microscope is one of the most incredible human creations that significantly revolutionized human vision. The invention of the microscope around 1590 changed the human view of things. However, there is an ongoing debate on the individual who should take credit for the invention of the microscope between Hans Lippershey and the father and son team Hans and Zacharias Janssen. Both are credited for the incredible invention by different historians. Janssen duo created the microscope when they discovered that putting two lenses on a tube at each end and looking through it at objects they became magnified (Chodos & Ouellette, 2019). This essay will assess Hans and Zacharias Janssen early microscopes and its overall implication on the human civilization.

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Figure 1: Janssen Microscope (Chodos & Ouellette, 2019).

Features of Janssen Microscopes

Janssen microscopes were compound in nature with at least two lenses with the objective lens being positioned close to the object which produced the image and magnified further by the eye piece which is the second lens in the early Janssen microscope. One of the earlier Janssen microscope can be viewed today in the Middelburg museum which is dated 1595 and had three sliding tubes for the different lenses without a tripod with the capability of magnifying three to nine times the true size of the object. The Janssen microscope was two and half feet long with the main brass tube having a diameter of two inches which was held by an ebony disc at the base with a lens on each end of the tube. The Janssen microscope was further improved by different individuals as its use especially in science became apparent.

History of Zacharias Janssen

Zacharias Janssen is credited to have invented the compound microscope in the 1590s but due to the fact that at that time he was just a teenager his father Hans Janssen is considered to have made a significant contribution. The microscope in the Middleburg museum which bear the Janssen name has different specifications from the account of Boreel who had seen the microscope in the hands of Cornelius Drebbel in response to the French King's physician who wanted information on the origin of the microscope (Chodos & Ouellette, 2019).

The Janssen microscope in Middleburg museum has three tubes with the tubes being designed to slide into the outer tube which is the casing of the microscope. Each draw tube in the Middleburg microscope has a lens which possess magnifying power. The lens are specifically designed to maximize the magnification effect with the lens connected to the eyepiece being bi-convex which with the one in direct contact with the object being plano convex (Chodos & Ouellette, 2019). The microscope primary design was to be used by hand because it lacks a mounting and can magnify between three to nine times the size of the object. Despite the rudimentary appeal of the Janssen microscope at the time of its creation it was an important development in microscopy in the class of single lens which made visible to human kind a world that was unknown.

Conclusion

The Janssen microscope played an instrumental role in the discovery of the world that the naked human eye could not see. The Janssen microscope paved way for the creation of greater instruments for microscopy. The microscope is a simple structure fitted with lenses on both ends but its contribution in biology has been immense. Today, more powerful magnifying lenses are being created with the advent of greater technology and magnifying lens power.

References

Chodos, A, & Ouellette, J. (2019). Invention of the microscope. APS News. Retrieved from https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200403/history.cfm