Unspecified / Date unspecified
Microscope
Microscope
The Smithsonian catalogs Microscope as microscope in its Science & Scientific Instruments records.
WHY IT’S INTERESTING
A London optician named James Wilson (fl. 1702-1710) described a simple (single-lens) microscope in 1702. John Cuff (fl. 1731-1770) introduced his version in the early 1740s, terming it a “microscope for opake objects.” The key feature here was a small “Concave Speculum of Silver” that surrounded the lens and threw light onto the specimen to be seen. The idea for this mirror probably came from Joh