MICROSCOPE, COMPOUND

A microscope that consists of two microscopes in series, the first serving as the ocular lens (close to the eye) and the second serving as the objective lens (close to the object to be viewed). Credit for creating the compound microscope goes usually to the Dutch spectaclemakers Hans and Zacharias Janssen who in 1590 invented an instrument that could be used as either a microscope or telescope. The compound microscope evolved into the dominant type of optical microscope today.