In the 1660s, with the help of a simple, homemade light microscope that magnified samples more than 250 times, a Dutch fabric merchant named Antoine van Leeuwenhoek became the first person to document a close-up view of bacteria, red blood cells, sperm cells, and many other scientific sights. Since then, light microscopy has solidified its place as a bedrock technique in our quest to understand living organisms. Today, it is nearly ubiquitous in life science laboratories, enabling biologists ...
