Microbiology

As many people know, there have been many different inventions that have been made throughout the years for us to get a better understanding of our universe.  Microbiology definitely has the most interesting and helpful inventions of all time.  One of the most commonly used item in Microbiology is the Microscope.  The Microscope has had many changes done to it ever since it has first been invented, and all of them have been beneficial to the science community.  Below are a couple different inventions of the microscope that has been successful and beneficial:




Light Microscope (Optical Microscope)

The Light Microscope is a very commonly used microscope.  It was first invented in 1635 by a man named Robert Hooke.  Most schools use this kind of microscope in their Science classes, but many of its functions (at some schools) are blocked from the students use.  This microscope obtains sufficient contrast, good resolution, and uses visible light and magnifying lenses in order to get a clear image of the substance that you are observing.  This microscope impacted Science because it allowed humans to have a better magnification and a clearer view of an object that can not be viewed by the naked eye.



Compound Microscope

This microscope was invented in 1597 by a man named Zaccharias Janssen.  This microscope uses a very short focal length objective lens in order to form an enlarged image of your specimen.  The eyepiece uses a simple magnifier to reduce eyestrain.  This piece also contains 2 lenses for a better view.  This is another very commonly used microscope as well.  It has a high magnification and low resolution.  With this new technology, it allowed scientists to observe bacteria, algae, protozoa, and many more human and animal cells.  This helped us learn a lot more about Science.



Stereo Microscope (Dissecting Microscope)

This interesting microscope was created by a man named Horatio S. Greenough in the early 1890's.  This piece has 2 eye pieces for a better view of your object, instead of having to look through only 1 eye.  A con about this microscope is that the left-side image is projected to the right eye piece, and the right-side image is projected to the left eye piece.  So you are looking at the image backwards.  This microscope is really the same thing as a Compound Microscope, but a Stereo Microscope views the image from a different angle.  This impacted Science because we were able to view a specimen in 3 dimensions.  Normal microscopes just view the specimen upright. 



Optical Microscope

This microscope was invented by a man named Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek in 1957.  This microscope has only 1 eye piece, but they rest of the microscope has about the same characteristics as a normal microscope would.  These microscopes were originally created to provide illumination below an object with a mirror instead of a light source.  But over time scientists have changed it so now a constant, strong lamp is used to illuminate the object.  Since this microscope has the light illuminating through the object, it is best if the object being view is semi-transparent, or else it will be harder to view the more detailed parts of the object.  That has impacted Science in a way that we can now view a semi-transparent or completely transparent substance with a microscope.



Stereo Zoom Microscope

  This microscope was invented in 1959.  Although the inventor is unknown, this microscope is very similar to the original Stereo Microscope, except it can zoom in and out on the item and not get blurry, unlike the other microscope.  With this new characteristic, we are now able to get a closer look at specimens without the image getting blurry.  It allows us to get a better understanding of our specimens and we are then able to get a better understanding of life, itself.  That really impacts Science.



Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

This is a very unique microscope that was invented by Max Knoll.  His first prototype was created in 1935, and his finished product came out in 1952.  It took him a very long time to critique his invention, but it eventually paid off.  In order to make this microscope work, you have to have a TV or computer scanner and monitor.  This microscope uses electrons instead of light to view its objects.  The images that the scientists view are also 3 dimensional when using this microscope.  This type of microscope is mainly used in medical and physical science communities.  Since the microscope is so big, it allows more objects to be viewed at a time, which saves scientists time and money, and it has a higher magnification.  All of these characteristics impacted Science because this was a very big step from normal microscopes.  We wouldn't understand a lot of science related items if this microscope had not been invented.



Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

This huge microscope was invented also by Max Knoll in 1931.  The way this microscope works is a beam of electrons is shined onto the object that they are viewing.  Whatever parts of the object is transmitted, is then projected onto a phosphor screen for the scientists to view.  This is a very convenient microscope because it doesn't take long at all, and the magnification is wonderful.  Although it might take up a lot of space, it is worth being able to be more knowledgeable about humans and their surroundings.  Which causes a great impact on Science because, like many of the other microscopes, it takes us one step closer to figuring out what exactly is going on on Earth and in the Universe. 



Fluorescence Microscope (Phosphorescence Microscope)

 This microscope was invented by a man named Sir George G. Stokes in 1852.  This man noticed that mineral fluorspar emitted red light when it was illuminated by ultraviolet excitation.  This microscope uses a much more powerful light source than a normal microscope would.  Even if the light source is more powerful, it emits a low energy light for a longer wavelength.  This produces the magnified image instead of the original light source.  This microscope is mainly used for smaller specimens like microbes.  This technology helps scientists have a better understanding about smaller specimens, like microbes, that a lot of microscopes are not able to produce a good image.



Digital Microscope

 This interesting microscope was actually invented by a Japanese lens company called Hirox Co Ltd.  They invented it in 1986.  The microscope requires a control box, a lens, and a computer or some kind of screen.  Depending on the size of the screen that you have, will depend on the magnification levels that you will receive.  So, if you have a tiny screen, you wouldn't be able to view the specimen as closely as you would like.  Unless you had a big screen, then you can view the specimen in a lot more detail.  This was a very clever invention, so now you don't have to strain your eyes by looking through the tiny eye piece.  Now, you just have to look at your screen and you will be able to see everything you need.  This didn't just aid scientists, but it aided other people as well because anyone can go out and by one of these microscopes and view whatever they would like.  For instance, Sony has just now come out with one of these microscopes.



Dark-Field Microscope

 In 1903, this microscope was invented by a man named August Kholer.  He had an amazing idea that instead of making the light source shine through the object or underneath the object, we should have the light source coming from the sides, that way it could still light up the product, but it wouldn't mess with the way that it might look.  Although this was an amazing idea, without the light coming from the bottom of the microscope, the colors are not visible.  So, all the images that you will see with this microscope will be in black and white, but every great idea has to have at least one problem.  This helped scientists have a better look at the structure of the product that they are viewing, rather than the color or the pattern of it.