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

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