For some time now I have been studying Antony Van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes and building prototypes, and have finally settled on a design that I would like to offer to the public.

They are made of thin beaten brass, about 47 mm tall by 25 mm wide, with the lens captured between two such sheets. The subject is placed on a metal pin, adjusted with screws, to change the focus and position. One of the adjusting screws protrudes down from the body and also serves as a handle. These microscopes look very much like the one in the museum at Utrecht (circa ∼ 1690). They have a lens made of a 2 mm diameter glass ball and have a power of about 180X, with surprisingly good resolution.