Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek[note 1] (/ˈleɪvənhʊk/, Dutch: [ɑnˈtoːni vɑn ˈleːuə(n)ˌɦuk] ( ); October 24, 1632 – August 26, 1723) was a Dutch tradesman and scientist. He is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and considered to be the first microbiologist. He is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology.
Raised in Delft, Netherlands, Leeuwenhoek worked as a draper in his youth, and founded his own shop in 1654. Early life and career[edit] Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was born in Delft, Holland, on October 24, 1632. Microscopic study[edit] While running his draper's shop, Leeuwenhoek began to develop an interest in lensmaking, although few records exist of his early activity. Microscopic section through one-year-old ash tree (Fraxinus) wood, drawing made by Leeuwenhoek. Recognition by the Royal Society[edit] Scientific fame[edit] Techniques and discoveries[edit] Replica of microscope by Leeuwenhoek. Robert Hooke. Robert Hooke FRS (/hʊk/; 28 July [O.S. 18 July] 1635 – 3 March 1703) was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath.
His adult life comprised three distinct periods: as a scientific inquirer lacking money; achieving great wealth and standing through his reputation for hard work and scrupulous honesty following the great fire of 1666, but eventually becoming ill and party to jealous intellectual disputes. These issues may have contributed to his relative historical obscurity. Robert Gunther's Early Science in Oxford, a history of science in Oxford during the Protectorate, Restoration and Age of Enlightenment, devotes five of its fourteen volumes to Hooke.
Hooke studied at Wadham College during the Protectorate where he became one of a tightly knit group of ardent Royalists led by John Wilkins. Here he was employed as an assistant to Thomas Willis and to Robert Boyle, for whom he built the vacuum pumps used in Boyle's gas law experiments. Life and works Early life Oxford. Microscope. Microorganisms. Introduction to the Microscope How to Use the Compound Microscope.