Microscopes - Electron And Optical Innovations | Advanced Imaging, High Resolution, Superior Magnification

The first detailed account of the interior construction of living tissue based on the use of a microscope did not appear until 1644, in Giambattista Odierna's L'occhio della mosca, or The Fly's Eye.[6]
It was not until the 1660s and 1670s that the microscope was used extensively for research in Italy, The Netherlands and England. Marcelo Malpighi in Italy began the analysis of biological structures beginning with the lungs. Robert Hooke'sMicrographia had a huge impact, largely because of its impressive illustrations. The greatest contribution came fromAntonie van Leeuwenhoek who discovered red blood cells and spermatozoa and helped popularise microscopy as a technique. On 9 October 1676, Van Leeuwenhoek reported the discovery of micro-organisms
Electron microscopy[edit]

An ant as imaged using a scanning electron microscope (SEM)
See also: electron microscope
In the early 1900s a significant alternative to light microscopy was developed, using electrons rather than light to generate the image.Ernst Ruska started development of the first electron microscope in 1931 which was the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The transmission electron microscope works on the same principle as an optical microscope but uses electrons in the place of light and electromagnets in the place of glass lenses. Use of electrons instead of light allows a much higher resolution.
Development of the transmission electron microscope was quickly followed in 1935 by the development of the scanning.