The secret microscope that sparked a scientific revolution

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View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions  10.02.22 The Secret Microscope That Sparked a Scientific Revolution 11-MINUTE READ On September 7, 1674, Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, a fabric seller living just south of The Hague, Netherlands, burst forth from scientific obscurity with a letter to London's Royal Society detailing an astonishing discovery. While he was examining algae from a nearby lake through his homemade microscope, a creature "with green and very glittering little scales," which he estimated to be a thousand times smaller than a mite, had darted across his vision. Two years later, he followed up with another report so extraordinary that biologists today refer to it simply as "Letter 18": Van Leeuwenhoek had looked everywhere and found what he called animalcules in everything. With these observations, he became the first person to ever see a microorganism—a discovery of almost incalculable significance to human health and our understanding of life on this planet. As WIRED contributor Cody Cassidy writes, what's so surprising is that this monumental discovery was not made by Galileo or Isaac Newton or some other great scientific mind of the 17th century. Instead, a self-taught Dutchman did it by handcrafting a magnifying lens 10 times more powerful than anything before it. Van Leeuwenhoek's design wouldn't be bested for another 150 years. Yet even as scientists steadily unlocked the secrets of his microworld over the past 350 years, one great mystery eluded them: How did a shopkeeper working during his off hours make such a powerful lens? Van Leeuwenhoek took that information to the grave. In 2018, museum curator Tiemen Cocuyt made it his mission to solve this centuries-old mystery. The challenge: How do you closely examine a tiny glass bead that's sandwiched between the brass plates of a priceless microscope that you're forbidden to disassemble? As Cassidy writes, that's where the nuclear reactor comes in. — Jon J. Eilenberg | Articles Editor READ THE FULL STORY You Might Also Like ... Sofia, the Historic Airplane-Borne Telescope, Lands for the Last Time BY RAMIN SKIBBA | 3-MINUTE READ Astronomers mourn the end of an infrared observatory that flew aboard a jumbo jet. It was expensive, but it saw what Earth-based telescopes can't. Viruses to Fight Superbugs? Scientists Are Working on It BY VICTORIA TURK | 10-MINUTE READ Phages may help fight drug-resistant infections—but finding the right ones for each bacterium is no mean feat. The Era of Fast, Cheap Genome Sequencing Is Here BY EMILY MULLIN | 5-MINUTE READ Illumina just announced a machine that can crack genomes twice as fast as its current version—and drive the cost down to $200 a pop. When Will the Pandemic Truly Be 'Over'? BY MARYN MCKENNA | 4-MINUTE READ Everyone wants to be done with Covid. But no single milestone will signal the end of the virus. Hurricane Ian Is a Warning From the Future BY MEGHAN HERBST | 4-MINUTE READ Tropical storms are increasingly likely to batter the US as oceans warm—and will continue to wreak havoc so long as climate change remains unaddressed. Climate Change Is Burying Archaeological Sites Under Tons of Sand BY CHARLIE METCALFE | 4-MINUTE READ Desertification can wear down ancient ruins or hide them under dunes—leaving researchers scrambling to keep track of where they're buried. GET WIRED Get WIRED for just $29.99 $5. Includes the print edition plus editor in chief Gideon Lichfield's column, System Update. Subscribe now. Have questions or comments? Reply to this email.   This email was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our email address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions