Overcoming the resolution limit in a light microscope of around half a wavelength of light (about 250 nanometers) is one of the most significant developments in optics. Due to the wave nature of light ...

Using a tiny, spherical glass lens sandwiched between two brass plates, the 17th-century Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to officially describe red blood cells and sperm cells ...