popular science

YEAR:

750–710 BC

IMAGE:

Cuneiform (2x)

In 1850, archaeologists unearthed the oldest-known magnifier in what is now Iraq. The 40-mm-wide Nimrud lens may have helped ancient Assyrians view minuscule inscriptions. This polished rock crystal refracts light through its curved surface. Prismatic power was the best we had for thousands of years. YEAR:

1625

IMAGE:

Bee’s eye (30x)

Seventeenth-century spectacle-seekers made the first microscopes: The compound model uses a second glass lens to boost magnification. Galileo was likely the first to add a third. With the improved view, scientists peered into bugs’ eyes and discovered the delicate hexagonal lenses of the “compound eye”.

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Zooming InOn the History of M

agnification

by ERIN BLAKEMOREWHILE THE NAKED EYE CAN PICK OUT OBJECTS

as thin as a hair, humans have never been quite sa

tisfied with

that limited perspective. The smaller we can see, the smaller we want to see. So, over the past three millennia, we’ve worked to improve on our powers of sight, with a little help from a lens. A magnifying lens, that is. And we’ve made some not-so-tiny discoveries along the way. Here are the biggest moments in our quest to see minutia.

Over

sight

24 POPULAR SCIENCE