DIY
SCIENCE
A 1673 VIEW OF THE
Make your own van Leeuwenhoek
microscope. By Patrick Keeling
MICROSCOPIC UNIVERSE
Photograph by Sam Murphy
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) was a
wealthy cloth merchant who lived in the city of
Delft, in the Netherlands. He is best known for his
pioneering work on microscopy: from 1673 onward
he created as many as 500 microscopes, and from
these made numerous significant discoveries. It
was he who first discovered the existence of single-celled organisms, a discovery that ironically brought
his scientific credibility into question for some time.
The success of his microscopes can be attributed
to many things, but a number of technical matters
stand out. First, his microscopes relied on a single
lens. Compound microscopes (those with more than
one lens in the light path) theoretically provide better
resolution, but they’re also much more technically
challenging to fabricate. As well, van Leeuwenhoek
devised a method for producing lenses that apparently reduced the need for precise grinding, a
laborious and technically difficult process.
The few remaining examples of van Leeuwenhoek’s
microscopes are elegant creations of brass or silver
with many working parts. However, the basic functional aspects of his design and his glass-sphere
lenses can be replicated in a few minutes, using
simple materials. Following the steps here, you can
make a working van Leeuwenhoek microscope
capable of 100x to 200x magnification.
It’s amazing to consider how we often take
microscopy for granted in this day and age. When
you use the microscope you’ve built, imagine what
125 Make:
