Achromatic Microscope made for J J Lister

Made:
1826 in London
maker:
James Smith
The first achromatic microscope made for J.J The first achromatic microscope made for J.J The first achromatic microscope made for J.J The first achromatic microscope made for J.J The first achromatic microscope made for J.J The first achromatic microscope made for J.J The first achromatic microscope made for J.J

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The first achromatic microscope made for J.J
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J. Lister by James Smith, London, 1826

How can you be sure that what you see through a microscope is real? Imagine you’re looking through the microscope and you see a cell with a coloured edge. Is this edge really there, or is it an artificial effect produced by flaws in the microscope?

Early microscopists had to check their findings many times because it was very difficult to make good, reliable instruments. The way light passed through the glass lens created faults in the image such as distortions and coloured halos. Medical scientists clearly had good reasons to distrust microscopes.

In 1826, the English wine-merchant and amateur scientist Joseph Jackson Lister (1786-1869) – father of the renowned surgeon Joseph Lister – made an important technical breakthrough. He developed an ‘achromatic’ lens which compensated for a distortion called ‘chromatic aberration’. This distortion happened because light of different wavelengths is diffracted through glass at different angles. With Lister's new lens, the coloured edge disappeared.

Lister's achromatic lens encouraged scientists to accept the microscope as a reliable tool for medical research, but even today scientists are careful to check their findings. Publishing the methods of their research is their way of saying,”I’ve seen it, and if you follow the exact same method, you will too” – coloured edges and all.

Details

Category:
Microscopy (Wellcome)
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A54204
Materials:
lenses, glass, body tube, brass, limb, brass, stage, brass, pillar, brass, base, brass and box, mahogany
Measurements:
box: 119 mm x 256 mm x 258 mm,
body tube: 244 mm 47 mm,
limb: 288 mm
fixed foot: 180 mm
type:
compound monocular microscopes and microscopes
credit:
Lister, Misses

Parts

Joseph Jackson Lister's Microscope, London, England, 1826

Joseph Jackson Lister's Microscope, London, England, 1826

The first achromatic microscope made for J.J. Lister by James Smith, London, 1826

Measurements:
overall: 540 mm x 350 mm x 220 mm, 3.45kg
Materials:
glass and brass (copper, zinc alloy)
Object Number:
A54204 Pt1
type:
compound microscope
Box for First Achromatic Microscope, 1826

Box for First Achromatic Microscope, 1826

Box for the first achromatic microscope made for J.J. Lister, 1826

Measurements:
overall: 119 mm x 256 mm x 258 mm,
Materials:
mahogany (wood)
Object Number:
A54204 Pt2
type:
box - container