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| Microscopes – Tools for Medical Research |
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For a long time, demons, divine judgement or harmful environmental influences were considered to be the causes of disease and epidemics. However, the microscope was seen as a possible way of helping to unveil the secret of infection and the transmission of disease. Initial attempts were made with the microscopes of the Dutchman Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.
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| Replica of a simple microscope constructed by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. Photo: Virtual Museum of Science (in German only) | Robert Hooke’s composite microscope. |
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But the improvement of the composite microscope attributable to Robert Hooke marked a decisive turning point in this development. He had already examined living and non-living material and described his results in the famous Micrographia. With the enhanced performance of microscopes, the number of scientists carrying out research into microorganisms also increased: in 1837 Theodor Schwann (1810–1882) and Charles Baron Cagniard de Latour (1777–1859) identified yeast fungi as the cause of fermentation. | |
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