Microscopes and the Cell Theory

By Swirl900
  • The Microscope was invented

    The Microscope was invented

    Zacharias Janssen invented the microscope.
  • Cells

    Cells

    Robert Hooke, was an English scientist. He came up with the term "cell" while looking at cork cells.

  • The discovery of Bacteria

    Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria, free-living and parasitic microscopic protists, sperm cells, blood cells and more. All of this was discovered using a microscope that could magnify up to 300x.
  • The impact of Leeuwenhoek's discoveries

    The impact of Leeuwenhoek's discoveries

    Leeuwenhoek's discoveries paved the way for wide acceptance of "a hidden world" beyond vision. This encouraged many scientists to use microscopes in their investigations.
  • Achromatic lenses are introduced

    Achromatic lenses are introduced

    They provide resolution of 1 micron or 1/1000 mm.

  • The Cell Theory

    The Cell theory is proposed by Theodor Schwann and Matthias Schleiden.
  • Plants and Cells

    Plants and Cells

    Matthias Jakob Schleiden recognized that all plants are composed of cells.

  • Cells are accepted as a basic unit of life.

    "Microscopic Investigations on the Accordance in the Structure and Growth of Plants and Animals", was a book writen by Theodor Schwann to describe this. It explained that all living things are made up of cells. This conclusion was only made possible through the use of microscopes.

  • Micrographs

    The first micrographs are published in France by Donne'.

  • Theory of the microscope

    Ernst Abbe published his book on the theory of the microscope. This allowed easier construction of microscopes as it eliminated the trial and error aspect.
  • oil immersion lens

    oil immersion lens

    The first oil immersion lens are introduced.
  • Mitosis

    Mitosis

    Walther Flemming discovers mitosis

  • Microscope lamp with filters

    Microscope lamp with filters are invented. August Kohler is the inventor. He had worked out light source and condenser position to obtain the best image projection

  • Apochromatic objective

    Ernst Abbe makes apochromatic objective that brings the primary colors into one focus.
  • The first commercial UV microscope

    The first commercial UV microscope

    The first commercial UV microscope is made available by Zeiss.

  • Electron Microscope

    The first electron microscope is invented by Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska.

  • First electron microscope to exceed light microscope

    Ernst Ruska builds the first electron microscope that surpasses the resolution of the light microscope.
  • scanning electron microscope

    scanning electron microscope

    The first scanning electron microscope is constructed.

  • Ultra-Microtome

    Porter and Blum build the first ultra-microtome.
  • Scanning Probe Microscope

    Scanning Probe Microscope

    The scanning probe microscope is invented.

  • Scanning laser confocal microscope

    Scanning laser confocal microscope are made commercially available.
  • Atomic Force Microscope

    Atomic Force Microscope

    The atomic force microscope is invented.