Fresh views of 17th-century discoveries by Hooke and van Leeuwenhoek

Abstract

• Critical readings of 17th-century documents reveal that the role of Robert Hooke in discovering microbiology has been understated compared to that of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. • Hooke's interests ranged over physics, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, and biology, and he also was a prolific inventor, especially in connection with microscopes and telescopes. • Hooke's Micrographia includes an exact description of how to make a single-lens microscope, whereas van Leeuwenhoek never disclosed his approaches for grinding lenses or illuminating samples. • Recently uncovered records of Hooke's writings from 1677 and 1678 are particularly important regarding the first observations of microorganisms and help to pinpoint his experiments to confirm Leeuwenhoek's claims of seeing "little animalcules," or bacteria.