Leeuwenhoek microscope (20th century replica)

Single lens microscope, replica of an instrument by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek developed his own very strong microscopes. Each had a tiny single lens, but they could magnify up to 250 times. Van Leeuwenhoek investigated the structure of muscles and plants, the shapes of crystals in grains of sand and much more. He was the first to describe microscopic organisms living in water. We know them today as bacteria and protozoa.