 Microscope |
The microscope is one of the most emblematic inventions of the scientific revolution. Through it, medical, biological and naturalistic observation, already highly cultivated throughout the sixteenth century, leaped beyond the natural limits of the human eye. The microscope made it possible to investigate the fine structure of minute bodies, assuming through the years the status of fundamental instrument of examination for medicine and biology as well as for the natural sciences. The first instruments built were composite microscopes, formed of one or two lenses inserted in a rigid tube. The simple microscope, utilizing a single lens, began to be used in scientific practice during the latter half of the century. In this room the displays show the development of the microscope from the "occhialino" designed by Galileo in 1620 to the complex instruments rich in sophisticated accessories used in microscopic research by the mid-nineteenth century. |