Microscopy for the Practicing Physician

Abstract

Microscopy dates from the seventeenth century when Robert Hooke and Marcello Malpighi used simple lenses in the study of various structural features. Between 1673 and 1716, Leeuwenhoek developed compound lenses and published a series of observations upon protozoa, bacteria, muscle, nerve, and many other structures. By the early nineteenth century, the compound microscope had become highly developed. Robert Brown in 1830 discovered the nucleus; Schleiden in 1838 and Schwann in 1839 enunciated the “cell theory.” In 1841, Henle published the first comprehensive account of human histology. Virchow described the human body as a “cell state” and listed specialized categories of cells in 1863.