1-158-610 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Frontispiece of Ontledigen en Ondekkigen...Brieven by Dutch microscopist Anton van Leeuwenhoek, 1686. Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was one of the first to recognise cells in animals and who gave the first accurate description of microbes and spermatzoma and blood corpuscles. Using microscopes he assembled himself, he discovered the existence of protozoa (1674), bacteria in tooth tartar (1676), blood corpuscles (1674) and blood capillaries (1683). In 1680 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his work. The figure in the middle right of the picture is making observations with a Leeuwenhoek microscope. (The Hague, 1686).