Health & biology · c. 1620

Microscope

Compound lenses revealed a world too small for the eye, from insect eyes to living cells.

Compound microscopes appeared in the Netherlands around 1590 to 1620, with Cornelis Drebbel building influential early models. They opened the study of cells, microbes and tissues that underlies all of modern biology.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Telescope 1608
Glass 2500 BCE

What it led to 4

Cells observed 1665
Microorganisms discovered 1676
Pasteurization 1864
Koch's bacteriology 1876

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Life expectancy in the UK since 1543 Latest: 81.3 years (2023) Source: Our World in Data

Child mortality (under 5) Latest: 3.74 % (2024) Source: Our World in Data