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ePaper created 2014-09-15, 12:31:02 | version 1.32.01
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek The birth of microbiology is usually dated to 1675, when Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) first came to mention “wee beasties” in a series of letters to the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. A Delft textile merchant by trade, Van Leeuwenhoek used magnifying glasses to inspect the weaving of sheets. Encouraged by doctors including his fellow townsman Reinier de Graaf, himself a correspondent of the Royal Society, he improved his lenses and manufac- tured his first microscope around 1670. The lens enlarged five hundred times and, more importantly, gave a high resolution. His technique for the manufacture of small glass beads was probably based on a combination of grinding and blowing, but sadly he took his secret with him to the grave. It was another century before scientists were able to improve on his version of the microscope, and some further 50 years after that before micro-organisms were first identified as pathogens. Without the original light microscope and the later development of specific techniques such as dark field microscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy, the development of modern medicine, including microbiology and dermatology, would not have been possible.[4] 10 BWEADVSMGFINCORR:Opmaak 1 21-07-2014 17:39 Pagina 10