Antony van Leeuwenhoek

Antony van Leeuwenhoek

Antony van Leeuwenhoek was an unlikely scientist. A tradesman of Delft, Holland, he came from a family of tradesmen, had no fortune, received no higher education or university degrees, and knew no languages other than his native Dutch. In 1648, he served as an apprentice in a linen-draper shop. In 1654, he started a business as a fabric merchant. He also worked as a wine assayer, city official and surveyor. Leeuwenhoek succeeded in making some of the most important discoveries in the history of biology. It was he who discovered bacteria, free-living and parasitic microscopic protists, sperm cells, blood cells, microscopic nematodes and rotifers, and much more. His researches, which were widely circulated, opened up an entire world of microscopic life to the awareness of scientists.

After reading the book, Micrographia, he became interested in microscopes. Compound microscopes which use more than one lens were invented around 1595. Tw...