The history of microscopy is a chronicle of突破人类认知边界. In 1590, Dutch spectacle makers Zacharias and Hans Janssen accidentally discovered that combining two lenses could magnify objects, creating humanity's first compound microscope. In the 17th century, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek used a self-made single-lens microscope to first observe "small animals" (microorganisms), opening the door to microbiology. In the 19th century, German optical scientist Ernst Abbe proposed the theory of microscope imaging, laying the theoretical foundation for modern microscopy.

The technological revolution of the 20th century brought leaps in microscope technology: In 1932, German scientists Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska invented the transmission electron microscope, improving resolution from 200 nm in optical microscopy to 0.1 nm; In 1981, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, enabling humans to observe atomic-scale structures for the first time. In 2014, super-resolution microscopy won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, breaking the diffraction limit of optical microscopy.

Modern microscopy technology is mainly divided into three categories:

Uses visible light (400-700 nm wavelength) passing through samples, with multi-stage magnification through objective and eyepiece lenses. The latest confocal microscopy uses laser scanning and pinhole filtering to obtain three-dimensional images.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images by transmitting electron beams through samples, achieving 0.1 nm resolution; Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) scans sample surfaces with electron beams to obtain three-dimensional morphological information.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images by detecting atomic interactions between probes and sample surfaces, capable of working in solution and particularly important for biological samples.

Microscopy technology achieved revolutionary breakthroughs in 2024:

Swiss teams using quantum entangled light sources improved signal-to-noise ratio by 20 times, achieving 0.5 angstrom (0.05 nm) resolution, enabling real-time observation of protein conformational changes.

The Max Planck Institute developed AI microscopy capable of automatically identifying cell states and predicting differentiation directions with 99.3% accuracy.

Harvard University developed adaptive microscopy capable of simultaneous optical, electron, and atomic force imaging, achieving multi-scale observation from millimeters to angstroms.

Microscopy technology is developing in three directions:

Quantum microscopy is expected to achieve 0.1 angstrom resolution, directly observing chemical bond formation and breaking.

AI microscopy will achieve full automation from experimental design to intelligent data analysis.

Miniaturized microscopy will enable real-time field detection, with prices dropping to 1/10 of traditional equipment.

Combining spectroscopic, mass spectrometric and other analytical technologies to achieve simultaneous structural and chemical composition analysis.