Microscope

Optical microscope used at the Wiki Science Competition 2017 in Thailand
18th-century microscopes from the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris
Carl Zeiss binocular compound microscope, 1914
Electron microscope constructed by Ernst Ruska in 1933
Fluorescence microscope with the filter cube turret above the objective lenses, coupled with a camera.
Types of microscopes illustrated by the principles of their beam paths
Evolution of spatial resolution achieved with optical, transmission (TEM) and aberration-corrected electron microscopes (ACTEM).
Unstained cells viewed by typical brightfield (left) compared to phase-contrast microscopy (right).
Modern transmission electron microscope
Transmission electron micrograph of a dividing cell undergoing cytokinesis
Leaf surface viewed by a scanning electron microscope.
First atomic force microscope

Laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye.

- Microscope
Optical microscope used at the Wiki Science Competition 2017 in Thailand

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Scanning electron microscope image of pollen

Microscopy

Scanning electron microscope image of pollen
Microscopic examination in a biochemical laboratory
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723)
Stereo microscope
A diatom under Rheinberg illumination
Phase-contrast light micrograph of undecalcified hyaline cartilage showing chondrocytes and organelles, lacunae and extracellular matrix
Images may also contain artifacts. This is a confocal laser scanning fluorescence micrograph of thale cress anther (part of stamen). The picture shows among other things a nice red flowing collar-like structure just below the anther. However, an intact thale cress stamen does not have such collar, this is a fixation artifact: the stamen has been cut below the picture frame, and epidermis (upper layer of cells) of stamen stalk has peeled off, forming a non-characteristic structure. Photo: Heiti Paves from Tallinn University of Technology.
Mathematically modeled Point Spread Function of a pulsed THz laser imaging system.
Example of super-resolution microscopy. Image of Her3 and Her2, target of the breast cancer drug Trastuzumab, within a cancer cell.
Human cells imaged by DHM phase shift (left) and phase contrast microscopy (right)
Photoacoustic micrograph of human red blood cells.
Bright field illumination, sample contrast comes from absorbance of light in the sample
Cross-polarized light illumination, sample contrast comes from rotation of polarized light through the sample
Dark field illumination, sample contrast comes from light scattered by the sample
Phase contrast illumination, sample contrast comes from interference of different path lengths of light through the sample
"house bee" Mouth 100X
Rice Stem cs 400X
Rabbit Testis 100X
Fern Prothallium 400X

Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye).

Several objective lenses on a microscope.

Objective (optics)

Optical element that gathers light from the object being observed and focuses the light rays to produce a real image.

Optical element that gathers light from the object being observed and focuses the light rays to produce a real image.

Several objective lenses on a microscope.
Objective lenses of binoculars
Two Leica oil immersion microscope objective lenses; left 100×, right 40×.
Camera photographic objective, focal length 50 mm, aperture 1:1.4
The segmented hexagonal objective mirror of the Keck 2 Telescope

They are used in microscopes, binoculars, telescopes, cameras, slide projectors, CD players and many other optical instruments.

A ray of light being refracted in a plastic block.

Refraction

Redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another.

Redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another.

A ray of light being refracted in a plastic block.
Refraction of light at the interface between two media of different refractive indices, with n2 > n1. Since the phase velocity is lower in the second medium (v2 < v1), the angle of refraction θ2 is less than the angle of incidence θ1; that is, the ray in the higher-index medium is closer to the normal.
A pen partially submerged in a bowl of water appears bent due to refraction at the water surface.
When a wave moves into a slower medium the wavefronts get compressed. For the wavefronts to stay connected at the boundary the wave must change direction.
A pencil part immersed in water looks bent due to refraction: the light waves from X change direction and so seem to originate at Y.
An image of the Golden Gate Bridge is refracted and bent by many differing three-dimensional drops of water.
The sun appears slightly flattened when close to the horizon due to refraction in the atmosphere.
Heat haze in the engine exhaust above a diesel locomotive.
Mirage over a hot road.
Water waves are almost parallel to the beach when they hit it because they gradually refract towards land as the water gets shallower.

It is what optical lenses are based on, allowing for instruments such as glasses, cameras, binoculars, microscopes, and the human eye.

Histologic specimen being placed on the stage of an optical microscope.

Histology

Histology,

Histology,

Histologic specimen being placed on the stage of an optical microscope.
Human lung tissue stained with hematoxylin and eosin as seen under a microscope.
Histologic section of a plant stem (Alliaria petiolata).
Histologic section of a fossilized invertebrate. Ordovician bryozoan.
Items used for submitting specimens: (Biopsy) wrap, (biopsy) sponge, (tissue processing) cassette and (biopsy) bag.
Histologic sample being embedded in paraffin wax (tissue is held at the bottom of a metal mold, and more molten paraffin is poured over it to fill it).
Histologic sample being cut on a microtome.
Masson's trichrome staining on rat trachea.
Green algae under a Transmission electron microscope
Santiago Ramón y Cajal in his laboratory.

Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures visible without a microscope.

A collection of different types of eyepieces.

Eyepiece

A collection of different types of eyepieces.
A 25 mm Kellner eyepiece
Simulation of views through a telescope using different eyepieces. The center image uses an eyepiece of the same focal length as the one on the left, but has a wider apparent field of view giving a larger image that shows more area. The image on the right has the same apparent field of view as the center eyepiece but has a shorter focal length, giving the same true field of view as the left image but at higher magnification.
The Plössl, an eyepiece with a large apparent field of view
Examples (from left to right) of 2" (51 mm), 1.25" (32 mm), and 0.965" (24.5 mm) eyepieces.
The eye relief. 1 Real image 2 - Field diaphragm 3 - Eye relief 4 - Exit pupil
Negative lens
Convex lens
Huygens eyepiece diagram
Ramsden eyepiece diagram
Kellner eyepiece diagram
Plössl eyepiece diagram
Orthoscopic eyepiece diagram
Monocentric eyepiece diagram
Erfle eyepiece diagram
König eyepiece diagram
RKE eyepiece diagram
Nagler type 2 eyepiece diagram
Nagler type eyepieces

An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as telescopes and microscopes.

Text seen through a magnifying glass

Magnifying glass

Convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object.

Convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object.

Text seen through a magnifying glass
Jim Hutton as detective Ellery Queen, posing with a magnifying glass
A plastic Fresnel lens sold as a TV-screen magnifier
Diagram of a single lens magnifying glass
Magnifying glass on an arm lamp
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For more convenient use or for magnification beyond about 30×, one must instead use a microscope.

A medical laboratory run by the Graduate Institute of Cancer Biology of China Medical University (Taiwan)

Laboratory

Facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed.

Facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed.

A medical laboratory run by the Graduate Institute of Cancer Biology of China Medical University (Taiwan)
Molecular Biology Technics Laboratory at Faculty of Biology of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan
A workbench in a chemistry laboratory
The Schuster Laboratory, University of Manchester (a physics laboratory)
Laboratory, Brecon County School for Girls
Three beakers, an Erlenmeyer flask, a graduated cylinder and a volumetric flask
An eyewash station in a laboratory.
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Chemistry laboratory of the 18th century, of the sort used by Antoine Lavoisier and his contemporaries
Thomas Edison in his laboratory, 1901
A laboratory of the Chemistry Department of the University of Helsinki on September 23, 1960
A laboratory in the 1970s
Chemical laboratory in Mahidol University International College since 2009
Early 2000s style of counter in Chemical Laboratory, Mahidol University International College, Thailand
Laboratory for organic Chemistry at the University of Applied Science Aachen, Campus Jülich, Germany

The classical equipment includes tools such as Bunsen burners and microscopes as well as specialty equipment such as operant conditioning chambers, spectrophotometers and calorimeters.

Cay foraminifera sand from Warraber Island Torres Strait, under a light microscope. The shape and texture in each individual grain is made visible through the microscope.

Microscopic scale

Cay foraminifera sand from Warraber Island Torres Strait, under a light microscope. The shape and texture in each individual grain is made visible through the microscope.
The impact marks and features on this single grain of sand can be clearly viewed through an electron microscope.
Slides with preserved pieces of hair under the coverslip. These samples were microscopically analysed for their condition, followed by DNA analysis, as a part of an animal forensics investigation.
A sample can be cross-sectioned from these ovary Krukenberg tumours to microscopically observe their histopathological appearance. Under the different magnification levels, a microscope can zoom in on the invasive proliferation of signet-ring cells with a desmoplastic stroma.
Photomicrograph of Arnager Kalk (“Arnager Limestone”), taken with a Scanning Electron Microscope. From the Upper Cretaceous of Bornholm, Denmark: a microscopic view of prismatic crystals and spheroidal aggregates of unidentified authigenic minerals.
A low magnification microscopic view of cerebral amyloid angiopathy, with brown-stained senile plaque visible in the cerebral cortex, characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease.
A very high magnification microscopic view of the exact same slide, zooming in on the brown staining caused by amyloid beta in senile plaques, contributing to symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

The microscopic scale is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly.

The naked eye

Naked eye

The naked eye
A photographic approximation of a naked eye view of the night sky from a small rural town (top) and a metropolitan area (bottom). Light pollution dramatically reduces the visibility of stars.
The Milky Way is visible over the Very Large Telescope, demonstrating clear atmosphere above Paranal Observatory.

Naked eye, also called bare eye or unaided eye, is the practice of engaging in visual perception unaided by a magnifying, light-collecting optical instrument, such as a telescope or microscope, or eye protection.

Scientists use optical microscopes to examine growing cells

Optical microscope

Scientists use optical microscopes to examine growing cells
Diagram of a simple microscope
Diagram of a compound microscope
A miniature USB microscope.
The oldest published image known to have been made with a microscope: bees by Francesco Stelluti, 1630
Basic optical transmission microscope elements (1990s)
Two Leica oil immersion microscope objective lenses: 100× (left) and 40× (right)
U.S. CBP Office of Field Operations agent checking the authenticity of a travel document at an international airport using a stereo microscope
A 40x magnification image of cells in a medical smear test taken through an optical microscope using a wet mount technique, placing the specimen on a glass slide and mixing with a salt solution
The diffraction limit set in stone on a monument for Ernst Abbe.
3D dual color super resolution microscopy with Her2 and Her3 in breast cells, standard dyes: Alexa 488, Alexa 568 LIMON
Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy image of actin filaments within a cell.
Bright field illumination, sample contrast comes from absorbance of light in the sample.
Cross-polarized light illumination, sample contrast comes from rotation of polarized light through the sample.
Dark field illumination, sample contrast comes from light scattered by the sample.
Phase contrast illumination, sample contrast comes from interference of different path lengths of light through the sample.

The optical microscope, also referred to as a light microscope, is a type of microscope that commonly uses visible light and a system of lenses to generate magnified images of small objects.