IMPORTANCE OF THE MICROSCOPE FOR SCIENCE AND HUMANITY - TECHNOLOGY - 2025

The importance of the microscope for science is found in that, since the 16th century, much more progress has been made in sciences such as biology, chemistry or medicine. The microscope sought to study living specimens and its growth continues with the development of technical advances in infravital microscopy, such as endoscopy and in vivo microscopy.

The use of the microscope began as entertainment and later became a basic instrument of science and medicine. It gives the observer a view of a smaller space and without this it would not be possible to visualize atoms, molecules, viruses, cells, tissues and microorganisms.

The basic premise of the microscope is its use to magnify objects and specimens. This has not changed, but has become increasingly powerful thanks to the various microscopic imaging techniques used to make certain types of observations.

Types of microscopes and their importance

The purpose of using the microscope is to solve problems by identifying the structures that occur at the level of health, manufacturing processes, agriculture and others. The microscope makes it possible to observe structures not visible to the human eye through magnifying screens.

Scientists have used instruments to observe in detail the structures of biological, physical and chemical materials. These instruments are called microscopes and are classified into several types: The stereoscopic or magnifying glass, with little magnification.

Compounds have higher magnification than the magnifying glass. Its handling is careful and its cost is high. The magnifying glass provides a three-dimensional image and its magnification capacity is 1.5 times to 50 times. The compound microscope is a double magnification optical instrument. The lens takes a real image and gives the resolution of the image. The eyepiece magnifies the image generated on the objective.

The resolving power of the compound microscope allows images to be seen that are imperceptible to the human eye more than 1000 times. The depth of field modified the working distance of the objective without losing the sharpness of the sample. The following image shows the compound microscope:

The usefulness of compound microscopes allows areas such as Histology to review the structure of tissues and cells. The diagram summarizes how microscopic images, when viewed and analyzed by the observer, generate explanatory models about the structures.

Source: Fundamentals and Management of the Common Compound Optical Microscope.

Microscopist

The microscopist is the person trained to understand the theoretical principles about the microscope, which will help him to solve problems at the moment of observation.

The theory of the microscope is useful because it shows how the equipment is made, what are the criteria for analyzing the images and how maintenance should be carried out.

The discovery of blood cells in the human body made possible the way for advanced studies in cell biology. Biological systems are composed of vast complexities, which can best be understood through the use of microscopes. These allow scientists to view and analyze the detailed relationships between structures and functions at different levels of resolution.

Microscopes have continued to be improved since they were invented and used by scientists like Anthony Leeuwenhoek to look at bacteria, yeast, and blood cells.

Microscopy

When it comes to microscopy, the compound light microscope is the most popular. Additionally, the stereo microscope can be used in Life Sciences to view large samples or materials.

In Biology, electron microscopy has become an important tool in determining the three-dimensional (3D) structure of macromolecular complexes and in solving the subnanometer. In addition, it has been used to observe crystalline second dimension (2D) and helical specimens.

These microscopes have also been used to achieve near-atomic resolution, which have been instrumental in studying the biological functions of different molecules in atomic detail.

With the combination of a number of techniques such as X-ray crystallography, microscopy has also been able to achieve greater precision, which has been used as a phase model to resolve crystallographic structures of a variety of macromolecules.

Discoveries thanks to the microscope

Pollen seen through a microscope.

The importance of microscopes in the life sciences can never be overestimated. Following the discovery of blood cells among other microorganisms, further discoveries were made through the use of advanced instruments. Some of the other discoveries made are:

• Walther Flemming's cell division (1879).
• The Krebs Cycle by Hans Krebs (1937).
• Neurotransmission: discoveries made between the end of the 19th century and the 20th century.
• Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration by Jan Ingenhousz in the 1770s.

Many discoveries have been made since the 1670s and have contributed significantly to a variety of studies that have seen great strides in treating disease and developing cures. It is now possible to study diseases and how they progress within the human body to better understand how to treat them.

Due to the many applications, data used in cell biology have been significantly transformed from representative non-quantitative observations in fixed cells to high-throughput quantitative data in living cells.

Through ingenious inventions, the limit of what scientists could reveal from the occult was continually expanded during the 17th and 18th centuries. Finally, in the late 19th century, physical limits in the form of the wavelength of light stopped the search to see beyond the microcosm.

With the theories of quantum physics, new possibilities arose: the electron with its extremely short wavelength could be used as a "light source" in microscopes with unprecedented resolution.

The first prototype of the electron microscope was built around 1930. In the following decades, smaller and smaller things could be studied. Viruses were identified and at magnifications of up to a million, even atoms finally became visible.

The microscope has facilitated the studies of scientists, bringing as results discoveries of causes and ways to cure diseases, studies of agents that can be used in the process of manufacturing inputs for agriculture, livestock and industry in general.

The people who handle the microscope must have training in the use and care for being in high cost equipment. It is a fundamental tool for making technical decisions that can help the profitability of a product and in health it helps the development of human activities.

References

1. From Juan, Joaquín. Institutional Repository of the University of Alicante: Fundamentals and Management of the Common Compound Optical Microscope. Recovered from: rua.ua.es.
2. From Thrilling Toy to Important Tool. Recovered from: nobelprize.org.
3. The Theory of the Microscope. Leyca Microsystems Inc. United States of America. Recovered from: bio-optic.com.
4. Life Sciences Under the Microscope. Histology and Cell Biology. Recovered from microscopemaster.com.
5. Central University of Venezuela: The Microscope. Recovered from: ciens.ucv.ve.