Anton van Leeuwenhoek is the greatest Scientific Revolutionary .
Leeuwenhoek is the greatest for his:
- invention of the simple microscope, as the basis of his research and discoveries
- definition and classification of what is a Protist
- developed a new understanding of reproduction, one that was reasonable to the Scientific Community
His Creation of the first Simple Microscope - Compound microscopes at the time were inefficient; they weren't very effective and can only magnify up to 20-30x. - With Leeuwenhoek's skills in grinding lens, precise eyesight and good choice of workplace lighting; he was able to build microscopes that could produce clearer results and magnify up to 200x, while still retaining the length of 3-4 inches. - His invention of the simple microscope and his observations led to detailed illustrations of the subject matter - With his dedicated work in grinding 500 lenses and making 400 different microscopes helped him in the discovery of many living organisms – like bacteria, protozoans, spermatozoa, etc.
His Understanding of Animal Reproduction - Using his simple microscope, he observed the structure of sperm and from that he hypothesised that the sperm contains the actual individual while the egg was just an environment for the individual to grow. - The diagram directly right illustrates his observations of the human sperm - He viewed human reproduction – and also other forms. With the observations of so many different species, he concluded that the individual existed in the sperm only. - Debates came up whether the individual existed in the sperm (were ‘spermatists’) or existed in the ovum (‘ovists’). - He observed the difference between the sperm of rabbits (fig.1-4) and dogs (fig. 5-8) which he used in proving his point.
The Discovery of his ‘Animalcules’ - Collected rain water to see if habitats existed, he found “animalcules” or “little beasties”, microorganisms moving in the water of his samples - He had observed rotifers, protozoans, amoebae, and intestinal protozoans – all which had cilia (or small arms) at areas of their structure - Shared with the Royal Society of London, but had to provide testaments of his findings from ministers, medical men to justify his claims - He helped create the classification of Protists. He discovered that these organisms had cilia, which helped them in moving around. - Because of his discoveries and records, scientists could easily recognize and follow his observations and further specify how they work
Conclusion Anton van Leeuwenhoek was the greatest Scientific Revolutionary since his discoveries helped change the understanding of the micro-organic world. - Leeuwenhoek’s microscope was very important as it better provided the creator in observing and hypothesizing what occurs in the animalcule-like world. - His concept of reproduction challenged not only the religious dogma of how an individual is made from God, but that from a scientific viewpoint. -His research on the animalcule world helped other scientists define what creatures existed from the microscopic world. They lead the scientist in a new direction towards micro-biology; till this day his diagrams can still be easily identified for further understanding of micro-organisms in the past. His findings were the beginning of microbiology – the study of microscopic organisms.
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