History is chocked full of inquisitive and observational individuals who invested a great amount of their time inquiring, observing and recording their findings in their present in order to build and improve upon the future.
That universal universe construct. Providing stimulus way beyond those cumulus, past even the Regulus, and inward to our global terrarium and all encompassing aquarium. Where those who explored with their oculus, discovered the terrestrial annulus, and the aquatic rivulus.
To build upon the foundation of observation, generation to generation, led us to civilization, where one individuals sequestration and subsequent stimulation through masturbation set forth the theory of fertilization by way of procreation. Perhaps history’s pope’s stipulation about the aforementioned act being an indignation is a mischaracterization of individual personalization. As proven, it has scientific validation and classification!
Let me introduce you to a Dutchman of antiquity famous for rubbing one, or two, maybe three, possibly four, ok five……. out in the name of science.Well, maybe he made it a life work. After all, evolution is constantly evolving, and one would not want to miss out on an important discovery. Thonius Philips(Anton) van Leeuwenhoek(1632-1723) is his name, and it could affirmed that, Anton, was indeed, cumming to recognize the foundation of life. All in the name of science.
Though Mr. van Leeuwenhoek did not invent the glass lens, nor the microscope which he became known to history for using, he did manage, through ingenuity, to craft a single glass lens which was able to magnify objects to around 300x in size, at a time when the standard compound microscopes(2 or more lenses) were able to produce an order of around 30x magnification. It is even possible than van Leeuwenhoek made lenses that were cable of up to 500x magnification, but were lost to history.
Van Leeuwenhoek’s venture into the micro world was through the reinvention, hence, re-envisioning of the glass lens. Anton’s technique was to to take a glass tube and heat it over flame, then stretch it into a very fine wire of glass, and subsequently reheat one end of the thread until it formed a globe, of which ended up being the viewing, or eye piece, and the filament end was the optical intake for the item to be studied.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s Microscope
Anton’s Foray into magnification lenses and eventual revolutionary microscopy started with an apprenticeship in an Amsterdam textile shop, where you know they were hemp dealing in the day. Magnifying lenses were used to grade the quality of the fabrics they were purchasing. Having an inquisitive mind, van Leeuwenhoek obviously learned about how to create magnifying lenses and improved it to the pinnacle of advancement into what would come to be known as microbiology, and landing himself a membership into the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. A monumental task for a descendant of tradesmen lineage.
Not being an intellectual, or having a scientific background, nor able to speak English or the scientific language of latin, van Leeuwenhoek did enter into correspondence with said Royal Society, where his microbiology work on magnification of known visible insects and other already observed natural objects was acknowledged as observationally correct, therefore adding to the field of natural knowledge, that is until he wrote the society a letter about the discovery of microscopic life.
Though the existence of microorganisms was hypothesized by Jainism as far back as 600 BC, and by Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, Van Leeuwenhoek was the first person in recorded history to have laid eyes on any microscopic entity, so when the intellectual academics of the Royal Society learned of his observations, they academically concluded that this Dutch textile merchant must be some sort of quack.
A common held scientific belief at the time was that life just miraculously appeared out of inanimate objects. Do not laugh, such examples of explicit quackery exists to this very day. Remember, when one is seated at that pub or restaurant mask free and are yacking to whoever, the rona can not infiltrate ones orifices, but stand up and walk out the door or to the washroom without that covi-shield and that rona will infect you and murder everybody in your family! Even if you are quintuply vaccinated!
Only upon repeated conformational correspondence by van Leeuwenhoek to the Royal Society did they send a contingent of professionals to investigate the supposed microorganism findings. Though I highly suspect that Anton at that time did not report to them about his micro-orgasmic findings.
Yes, that is right, as alluded to above the first man to make a microscope powerful enough to view microorganisms did in fact make the discovery of the male reproductive cell, spermatozoa. Where upon afterwards the scientific community theorized that there must something equivalent in a woman’s reproductive tract that played a part in creating offspring, and of course, being men, therefore superior, the theory was that whatever the women possessed, it was eaten by the spermatozoa to begin the process of baby making.
Other significant discoveries van Leeuwenhoek made other than sperm cells and microorganism, were, muscle fibres, red blood cells, capillary blood flow and algae. And somehow I highly suspect that he repeatedly attempted to find the female Yang to accompany his spermatozoa Yin, through repeated experimentation with his wife, and possibly other test subjects. After all, it was for science! Perhaps a gooey Yin and Yang mixture made its way onto the microscope but the only thing observable was a particle smaller than the spermatozoa, hence the Yin eating the Yang theory of conception.
The curiosity and ingenuity of a textile merchant led to some of the greatest discoveries of human history, only to have said observations recorded for future individuals in subsequent generations to intake and improve upon for the advancement of human civilization, of whose subsequent discoveries repeated the process of understanding and advancement of humanity. Though of course with beneficial advancement comes non-beneficial, destructive entrenchment. DDT, Agent Orange/Purple, Glyphosate, Thalidomide to name a few.
I remember first learning about van Leeuwenhoek sometime in elementary school, perhaps grade six. Though if I remember correctly I was taught that he was indeed the inventor of the microscope.
Hoek van Holland is a town on the coast of Holland(Netherlands) near Rotterdam.In Dutch, Hoek means corner, and van means of, so, corner of Holland. Though van Leeuwenhoek lived in Delft. Leeuwen translates to, lions. Leeuwenhoek is Lionscorner.
Years ago I had a working holiday visa to the Netherlands. The Rotterdam police nearly filled me with hot lead one evening. Pickled herring is not so bad, though beer makes it better! Forget Heineken, go Hertog Jan.
CR