Optical and light microscopes use the visible or near-visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to magnify images of objects. There are two basic types of devices. Stereo microscopes use two ...

Optical microscopes depend on light, of course, but they are also limited by that same light. Typically, anything under 200 nanometers just blurs together because of the wavelength of the light ...

Late 1600s – Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek constructed a microscope with a single spherical lens. It magnified up to ×275. 1800s - the optical quality of lenses increased and the ...