Miniature worlds magnified: art and science from the microscope

This illustration shows the scales on the wings of butterflies, magnified.

It comes from one of the finest illustrated books on microscopy - produced by Martin Frobenius Ledermüller (1719-1769) a physician and keeper of a natural history collection in Germany.

Ledermüller used conventional and solar microscopes to create these coloured etchings - detailed images of classic experiments for the enjoyment of the observer.

The artist Franz Andreas Bauer (1758-1840) was patronised as a scientific illustrator by the President of the Royal Society Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820).

Bauer became a fully-fledged botanist and skilled microscopist in his own right.

This plate was drawn and coloured by Bauer for the article 'Farther observations on the feet of animals', by Sir Everard Home FRS (1756-1832).

It shows the limbs of the male great diving beetle, Dytiscus marginalis, at magnifications of 25 to 40,000 times original size.

This is a drawing by marine biologist John Denis Macdonald FRS (1826-1908). It depicts crustacean antennae under magnification.

The specimens were collected in a towing net during the voyage of HMSV Torch between St Vincent and Rio de Janeiro.

Macdonald was assistant surgeon on the vessel and a fine naturalist, the successor of Thomas Henry Huxley FRS (1825-1895) on Pacific survey duties.

Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888), a Victorian marine naturalist and illustrator, wrote a study on the microscopic stinging structure of sea anemones for the Royal Society.

These accompanying plates were never published.

Gosse contributed greatly to the amateur use of the microscope, and in popularising seaside science, most notably pioneering public aquariums.

Gosse collaborated with Bristol-based naturalist Charles Thomas Hudson FRS (1828-1903) on their book The Rotifera (1886-1889).

Uncovering the world of the microscopic acquatic animal commonly known as the wheel animal, this classic work was illustrated by both Gosse and Hudson and resulted in Hudson’s election to the Royal Society in 1889.

British entomologist Robert Newstead FRS (1859-1947) amassed an impressive volume detailing all scale insects of the British Isles.

His endeavour was part of a new movement pioneered by entomologist Eleanor Ormerod (1828-1901) to investigate the agricultural damage caused by insects.

This original plate illustrates views of the insect Aspidiotus zonatus on oak leaves at various stages of development, magnified to 25, 35 and 600 times the original size.

With time, illustrations using microscope became more standardised.

This dorsal view of the intestine of the marine chiton, ischnochiton magdalenensis, commonly known as the gumboot chiton, was drawn by conchologist Vera Fretter (1905-1992).

Fretter collaborated with Alastair Graham FRS (1906-2000) on the study of British prosobranch molluscs, particularly their functional anatomy and ecology (1962).