Instrument that produces enlarged images of small objects, allowing them to be viewed at a scale convenient for examination and analysis.
Formed by various means, the image is received by direct imaging, electronic processing, or a combination of these methods. The most familiar type of microscope is the optical, or light, microscope, in which electron microscopy ), which uses a beam of {{link=electron">electrons in its image formation. Crude microscopes date to the mid-15th century, but not until 1674 were the powerful microscopes of A. van Leeuwenhoek able to detect phenomena as small as protozoa.