Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Microscopes slowly evolved from

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Microscopes slowly evolved from crude magnifying lenses during this period. The first recorded microscope consisted of a pair of draw tubes with a converging objective and diverging eye lens made by Dutch inventors Zacharias and Hans Janssen (Zacharias was a boy at the time).

The first known compound microscope, made by Zacharias and Hans Janssen in the 1590's.

This middle seventeenth century version of the simple one-lens microscope uses a sliding rod to focus the specimen.

This simple single-lens microscope, which is little more than a magnifying lens with a sample holder, was common during the middle of the seventeenth century.

This elegant microscope has two engraved plates that are hinged at one end and joined to the turned ivory handle. It is engraved "Depovilly a Paris", and was manufactured sometime around the year 1686.

Equipped with a wooden • body and tripod base, this well-crafted microscope also has an ivory stage.

Originally designed by Christiaan Huygens, this brass microscope was probably made by Louis Chapotot or his son around 1700. -

A simply constructed multipurpose microscope that may have a Dutch origin.

- An unusual microscope, made by Nicolas Bonanni in • 1691, possessed revolutionary features such as a rack-and -pinion focus and a dual-lens condenser.

This Italian-style vase microscope was made by • Eustachio Divini in the late 1600 s and was used in pioneering biological studies by Marcello Malpighi.

Originally thought to have been • made by Galileo, this elegant pasteboard and vellum Italian compound microscope is now credited to Campani. Giuseppe Campani, a famous • Italian designer, made this screw-barrel focus microscope in 1686 that utilized a spring system to hold the specimen.

Although this seventeenth century microscope has been attributed to Galileo, a close inspection of the construction details indicates that it was made in the late 1600 s, about 50 years after the famous astronomer-scientist's death.