What Does a Microscopist Do?

Antony van Leeuwenhoek (October 24, 1632-August 26, 1723), a Dutch microscopy scientist and pioneer of microbiology, was born and died in Delft, the Netherlands. Due to his diligence and his unique talents, he polished his lenses far more than his contemporaries. His magnifying lenses and simple microscopes come in many forms. The materials of the lenses include glass, gems, diamonds, etc. During his lifetime, he polished more than 400 lenses, and a simple lens with a magnification of 270 times. Its main achievements: the first discovery of microorganisms, the earliest recording of muscle fibers, blood flow in microvessels.

Levenhoek was born in Delft, the Netherlands in 1632. He lost his father at the age of 16 and was forced to drop out of school before apprenticing to a grocery store in the Dutch capital Amsterdam. There is an optical shop next to the grocery store. Levin Hook will come to the glasses craftsman to learn the technique of grinding glass pieces when he has time. When he heard that the convex lens made of fine glass can magnify the small things around him many times, he longed to use his hands to grind out the uniform and transparent lenses, leading him into the mysterious microworld that humans can never see with the naked eye. I don't know how many nights later, Levin Hook forgot the tiredness of the apprentice life in the shop during the day, and devoted himself to grinding lenses, and quickly mastered the technology of grinding lenses. One day, he finally polished a lens that was only 3mm in diameter, but could magnify objects 200 times. He set the lenses in the holes made by the wood chips to observe tiny objects. He could hardly believe his eyes. Under his lenses, the fluff of chicken feathers became as thick as branches, and the legs of fleas and ants became thick and strong.

Levin Hook, who ended his apprenticeship, finally settled down in his hometown of Devo to work as a city gatekeeper. He spends his spare time every day observing natural phenomena with a microscope. In 1674, Levenhoek invented the world's first optical microscope, and used this microscope to observe red blood cells for the first time, thus beginning the era of human use of instruments to study the microcosm.

Although Levin Hook had no higher education, many of his friends were scientists, scholars, and artists, including Regnier de Graaf, a well-known Dutch anatomist at the time. Graff has studied the secretions of the pancreas and the reproductive system of female animals. The word "egg" was first proposed by Graff. Graf also paid more attention to microscopy and was closely linked to the Royal Society of London. It was through Graf that the work of Levenhoek was understood by the Royal Society and then by the scientific community. In 1680, Levenhoek was elected a member of the Royal Society.

Levenhoek was born in Delft, the Netherlands on October 24, 1632.

One day in 1673, the Royal Society received a thick letter.

The joy of success did not stun the curious Levin Hook. On the contrary, he further promoted his persevering spirit of exploration.

An important contribution of Levin Hook's microscopic observation was to further confirm the existence of capillaries. He has observed capillaries in fish, frogs, humans, mammals, and some invertebrates. In 1688, while observing the blood loops of the cormorant tail under a description microscope, he wrote:

"The scene in front of me is so exciting ... because I found more than fifty blood loops in different places ... I not only saw that in many places, blood passed from the tail through extremely fine blood vessels The center is transmitted to the edge, and it is also seen that each blood vessel has a curved portion that turns outward, thereby bringing blood to the center of the tail so that it can be transmitted to the heart. From this I understand that what I see in this animal And blood vessels called arteries and veins are actually exactly the same thing; that is, if they send blood to the farthest end of the blood vessel, they are specifically called arteries, and when they send blood back to the heart , It's called a vein. " ^[3]

As a distinguished micro-observer, Levenhoek is quite important in the history of biology. It was not until the 19th century that microscientific research surpassed his level. From a professional point of view, he is an amateur scientist, his main occupation is a businessman, and even in scientific research he has retained the habits of some businessmen. For example, he doesn't show anyone about his methods, lest others master it, and he likes "independent management" and rarely communicates the results of scientific research with others. But from another perspective, he is a truly outstanding scientist. His fascination with scientific research, his rigorous and diligent attitude and style of scholarship, and his contributions were not only rare at the time, but also throughout the history of biology.