View source for Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

{{Short description|Dutch microbiologist (1632–1723)}}
{{redirect|Leeuwenhoek|the eponymous microbiology journal|Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (journal){{!}}''Antonie van Leeuwenhoek'' (journal)|other uses|Leeuwenhoek (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{family name hatnote|Van Leeuwenhoek|Leeuwenhoek|lang=Dutch}}{{Dutch name capitalization|Van Leeuwenhoek}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
| image             = Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723). Natuurkundige te Delft Rijksmuseum SK-A-957.jpeg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Portrait by [[Jan Verkolje]], after 1680
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|df=y|1632|10|24}}
| birth_place       = [[Delft]], [[Dutch Republic]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=y|1723|08|26|1632|10|24}}
| death_place       = Delft, Dutch Republic
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| ethnicity         = 
| fields            = {{ubl|[[Microscopy]]|[[Microbiology]]}}
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = 
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = {{ubl|item_style={{longitem}}|First acknowledged [[microscopist]] and [[microbiologist]] in history{{#tag:ref|Van Leeuwenhoek is universally acknowledged as the [[List of people considered father or mother of a scientific field|father of microbiology]] because he was the first to undisputedly discover/observe, describe, study, conduct scientific experiments with [[microscopic organism]]s (microbes), and relatively determine their size, using single-lensed microscopes of his own design.<ref>[[Nick Lane|Lane, Nick]] (6 March 2015). "The Unseen World: Reflections on Leeuwenhoek (1677) 'Concerning Little Animal'." ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences ''. 2015 Apr; 370 (1666): {{doi|10.1098/rstb.2014.0344}}</ref> Leeuwenhoek is also considered to be the father of [[bacteriology]] and [[protozoology]] (recently known as [[protistology]]).<ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Clifford Dobell |last=Dobell |first=Clifford |year=1923 |title=A Protozoological Bicentenary: Antony van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) and Louis Joblot (1645–1723) |journal=Parasitology |volume=15 |issue=3| pages=308–319 |doi=10.1017/s0031182000014797| title-link=Louis Joblot |s2cid=84998029 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Corliss |first1=John O |year=1975 |title=Three Centuries of Protozoology: A Brief Tribute to its Founding Father, A. van Leeuwenhoek of Delft |journal=The Journal of Protozoology |volume=22 |issue=1| pages=3–7 |doi=10.1111/j.1550-7408.1975.tb00934.x| pmid=1090737 }}</ref>|group="note"}}|[[Microscopic scale|Microscopic]] discovery of [[microorganism]]s ([[animalcule]])}}
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| awards            = 
| signature         = Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Signature.svg
| footnotes         = 
| honorific_suffix  = [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
}}

'''Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek'''{{#tag:ref|The spelling of Van Leeuwenhoek's name is exceptionally varied. He was christened as ''Thonis'', but always went by ''Antonj'' (corresponding with the English ''Antony''). The final ''j'' of his given name is the Dutch tense ''i''. Until 1683 he consistently used the spelling ''Antonj Leeuwenhoeck'' (ending in ''–oeck'') when signing his letters. Throughout the mid-1680s he experimented with the spelling of his surname, and after 1685 settled on the most recognized spelling, ''Van Leeuwenhoek''.<ref>Dobell, pp. 300–305.</ref>|group="note"}} {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑː|n|t|ə|n|i|_|v|ɑː|n|_|ˈ|l|eɪ|v|ən|h|uː|k|,_|-|h|ʊ|k}} {{respell|AHN|tə|nee|_|vahn|_|LAY|vən|hook|,_|-|huuk}}; {{IPA|nl|ˈɑntoːni vɑn ˈleːu.ə(n)ˌɦuk|lang|Antonie_van_Leeuwenhoek.ogg}}; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch [[microbiologist]] and [[microscopist]] in the [[Dutch Golden Age|Golden Age of Dutch art, science and technology]]. A largely [[self-taught]] man in science, he is commonly known as "[[List of people considered father or mother of a scientific field|the Father of Microbiology]]", and one of the first microscopists<!--preceded by Robert Hooke--> and microbiologists.<ref>Chung, King-thom; Liu, Jong-kang: ''Pioneers in Microbiology: The Human Side of Science''. (World Scientific Publishing, 2017,  {{ISBN|978-9813202948}}). "We may fairly call Leeuwenhoek "The first microbiologist" because he was the first individual to actually culture, see, and describe a large array of microbial life. He actually measured the multiplication of the bugs. What is more amazing is that he published his discoveries."</ref><ref name="hup">{{Cite book|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674975910|title=Life at the Edge of Sight |author=Scott Chimileski, Roberto Kolter |year= 2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-97591-0 |access-date=26 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Antony van Leeuwenhoek Biography {{!}} |url=https://www.biographyonline.net/scientists/antony-van-leeuwenhoek-biography.html |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=Biography Online |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=Lesley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qiYiDAAAQBAJ |title=Antoni van Leeuwenhoek: Master of the Minuscule |last2=Backer |first2=Jantien |last3=Biemans |first3=Claud |last4=Doorn |first4=Joop van |last5=Krab |first5=Klaas |last6=Reijnders |first6=Willem |last7=Smit |first7=Henk |last8=Willemsen |first8=Peter |date=2016 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-30430-7 |language=en}}</ref> Van Leeuwenhoek is best known for his pioneering work in microscopy and for his contributions toward the establishment of [[microbiology]] as a [[scientific discipline]].

Raised in [[Delft]], [[Dutch Republic]], Van Leeuwenhoek worked as a [[draper]] in his youth and founded his own shop in 1654. He became well-recognized in municipal politics and developed an interest in lensmaking. In the 1670s, he started to explore [[microbial life]] with his microscope.

Using single-lensed microscopes of his own design and make, Van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and to experiment with [[microbe]]s, which he originally referred to as {{lang|nl|dierkens}}, {{lang|nl|diertgens}} or {{lang|nl|diertjes}}.{{#tag:ref|{{langnf|nl||small animals}} (translated into English as ''[[animalcule]]s'', from {{langnf|la|animalculum|tiny animal|paren=none}})<ref name=lens>{{cite web |first=Douglas|last=Anderson|title=Animalcules |url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/animalcules |website=Lens on Leeuwenhoek |access-date=9 October 2019}}</ref>|group="note"}} He was the first to relatively determine their size. Most of the "animalcules" are now referred to as [[unicellular organism]]s, although he observed [[multicellular organism]]s in pond water. He was also the first to document [[microscopic scale|microscopic observations]] of [[muscle fiber]]s, [[Bacteria#History of bacteriology|bacteria]], [[spermatozoa]], [[red blood cell]]s, and [[crystal]]s in [[gouty tophus|gouty tophi]], and was among the first to see blood flow in [[capillary|capillaries]]. Although Van Leeuwenhoek did not write any books, he described his discoveries in chaotic letters to the [[Royal Society]], which published many of his letters in their ''[[Philosophical Transactions]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek  |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/historians-miscellaneous-biographies/antoni-van-leeuwenhoek |access-date=29 July 2023 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
[[File:Antony van Leeuwenhoek and his "Little animals"; being some account of the father of protozoology and bacteriology and his multifarious discoveries in these disciplines; (1932) (19122164704).jpg|thumb|Van Leeuwenhoek's birth house at Oosteinde, before it was demolished in 1926]]

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was born in [[Delft]], [[Dutch Republic]], on 24 October 1632. On 4 November, he was baptized as ''Thonis''. His father, Philips Antonisz van Leeuwenhoek, was a basket maker who died when Antonie was five years old. His mother, Margaretha (Bel van den Berch), came from a well-to-do brewer's family. She remarried Jacob Jansz Molijn, a painter and the family moved to [[Warmond]] around 1640. Antonie had four older sisters: Margriet, Geertruyt, Neeltje, and Catharina.<ref>Dobell, pp. 19–21.</ref> When he was around ten years old his step-father died. He was sent to live in [[Benthuizen]] with his uncle, an attorney. <!--and town clerk. Benthuizen was not a town, but a village. --> At the age of 16 he became a bookkeeper's apprentice (casher) at a linen-draper's shop at [[Warmoesstraat]] in Amsterdam,<ref>Dobell, pp. 23–24.</ref> which was owned by [[William Davidson of Curriehill|William Davidson]]. Van Leeuwenhoek left there after six years.<ref>[http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/biography.htm The curious observer. Events of the first half of Van Leeuwenhoek's life]. Lens on Leeuwenhoek (1 September 2009). accessed 20 April 2013.</ref><ref>Huerta, p. 31.</ref>

In July 1654, Van Leeuwenhoek married Barbara de Mey in Delft, with whom he fathered one surviving daughter, Maria (four other children died in infancy). He would live and study for the rest of his life at Hypolytusbuurt in a house he bought in 1655. He opened a draper's shop, selling linen, yarn and ribbon to seamstresses and tailors.<ref>{{cite web | title='The Golden Head' – Antoni's house | website=Delft.com | url=https://www.delft.com/routes/follow-in-the-footsteps-of-antoni-van-leeuwenhoek/points/6 | access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> His status in Delft grew throughout the years. In 1660 he received a lucrative job as [[chamberlain (office)|chamberlain]] for the [[schepen|sheriffs]] in [[City Hall (Delft)|the city hall]], a position which he would hold for almost 40 years. His duties included maintaining the premises, heating, cleaning, opening for meetings, performing duties for those assembled, and maintaining silence on all matters discussed there.

In 1669 he was appointed as a [[land surveyor]] by the court of [[Holland]]; at some time he combined it with another municipal job, being the official "wine-gauger" of Delft and in charge of the city wine imports and taxation.<ref>Dobell, pp. 33–37.</ref> His wife had died in 1666, and in 1671, Van Leeuwenhoek remarried to Cornelia Swalmius with whom he had no children.<ref>Dobell, pp. 27–31.</ref>

[[Image:The Geographer.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Painting of man with scroll and compass, standing by sunlit window|''[[The Geographer]]'' by [[Johannes Vermeer]]]]

Van Leeuwenhoek was a contemporary of another famous Delft citizen, the painter [[Johannes Vermeer]], who was baptized just four days earlier. It has been suggested that he is the man portrayed in two Vermeer paintings of the late 1660s, ''[[The Astronomer (Vermeer)|The Astronomer]]'' and ''[[The Geographer]]'', but others argue that there appears to be little physical similarity. Because they were both relatively important men in a city with only 24,000 inhabitants, living both close to the main market, it is likely they knew each other. Van Leeuwenhoek acted as the [[executor]] of Vermeer's will when the painter died in 1675.<ref>Van Berkel, K. (24 February 1996). ''Vermeer, Van Leeuwenhoek en De Astronoom''. Vrij Nederland (Dutch magazine), pp. 62–67.</ref>{{#tag:ref|In ''[[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]'' (p.&nbsp;236) [[Bill Bryson]] alludes to rumors that Vermeer's mastery of light and perspective came from use of a [[camera obscura]] produced by Van Leeuwenhoek. This is one of the examples of the controversial [[Hockney–Falco thesis]], which claims that some of the [[Old Master]]s used optical aids to produce their masterpieces.|group="note"}}

Van Leeuwenhoek's religion was "[[Dutch Reformed]]" and [[Calvinism|Calvinist]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html |title=The religious affiliation of Biologist A. van Leeuwenhoek |publisher=Adherents.com |date=8 July 2005 |access-date=13 June 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707164902/http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html| archive-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> Like [[Jan Swammerdam]] he often referred with reverence to the wonders God designed in making creatures great and small, and believed that his discoveries were merely further proof of the wonder of creation.<ref>{{cite web|year=2006 |url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html |title=The Religion of Antony van Leeuwenhoek |access-date=23 April 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504104155/http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html| archive-date=4 May 2006 |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>A. Schierbeek, ''Measuring the Invisible World: The Life and Works of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek F R S'', Abelard-Schuman (London and New York, 1959), QH 31 L55 S3, {{LCCN|5913233}}. This book contains excerpts of Van Leeuwenhoek's letters and focuses on his priority in several new branches of science, but makes several important references to his spiritual life and motivation. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

==Microscopic study==
{{See also|Microscopic discovery of microorganisms}}
[[Image:Leeuwenhoek Eschenholz.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=See caption|A microscopic section of a one-year-old [[ash tree]] (''Fraxinus'') wood, drawing made by Van Leeuwenhoek]]

While running his draper shop, Van Leeuwenhoek wanted to see the quality of the thread better than what was possible using the magnifying lenses of the time. He developed an interest in lensmaking, although few records exist of his early activity. By placing the middle of a small rod of soda lime glass in a hot flame, one can pull the hot section apart to create two long whiskers of glass. Then, by reinserting the end of one whisker into the flame, a very small, high-quality glass lens is created. Significantly, a May 2021 [[neutron tomography]] study of a high-magnification Leeuwenhoek microscope<ref name=":0" /> captured images of the short glass stem characteristic of this lens creation method. For lower magnifications he also made ground lenses.<ref>Klaus Meyer: ''Das Utrechter Leeuwenhoek-Mikroskop''. In: Mikrokosmos. Volume 88, 1999, S. 43–48.</ref> To help keep his methods confidential he apparently intentionally encouraged others to think grinding was his primary or only lens construction method.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

===Recognition by the Royal Society===
After developing his method for creating powerful lenses and applying them to the study of the microscopic world,<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://atena.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=13349171&search_terms=DTL184|title=Observationes microscopicae Antonii Lewenhoeck, circa particulas liquorum globosa et animalia|series=Acta Eruditorum|year=1682|location=Leipzig|page=321}}</ref> Van Leeuwenhoek introduced his work to his friend, the prominent Dutch physician [[Reinier de Graaf]]. When the [[Royal Society]] in London published the groundbreaking work of an Italian lensmaker in their journal ''[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]'', de Graaf wrote to the editor of the journal, [[Henry Oldenburg]], with a ringing endorsement of Van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes which, he claimed, "far surpass those which we have hitherto seen". In response, in 1673 the society published a letter from Van Leeuwenhoek that included his microscopic observations on mold, bees, and lice.<ref>Dobell, pp. 37–41.</ref> Then, in 1674, Van Leeuwenhoek made his most significant discovery. Starting from the assumption that life and [[motility]] are similar, he determined that the moving objects observed under his microscope were little animals. He later recorded his observations in his diary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek  |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/historians-miscellaneous-biographies/antoni-van-leeuwenhoek |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

[[File:Antoni van Leeuwenhoek letters to the Royal Society 3.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Page in a handwritten manuscript volume|A 1677 letter from Van Leeuwenhoek to Oldenburg, with the latter's English translation behind. The full correspondence remains in the [[Royal Society]] Library in London.]]

Van Leeuwenhoek's work fully captured the attention of the Royal Society, and he began corresponding regularly with the society regarding his observations. At first he had been reluctant to publicize his findings, regarding himself as a businessman with little scientific, artistic, or writing background, but de Graaf urged him to be more confident in his work.<ref>Dobell, pp. 41–42.</ref> By the time Van Leeuwenhoek died in 1723, he had written some 190 letters to the Royal Society, detailing his findings in a wide variety of fields, centered on his work in microscopy. He only wrote letters in his own colloquial Dutch; he never published a proper scientific paper in Latin. He strongly preferred to work alone, distrusting the sincerity of those who offered their assistance.<ref>Dobell, pp. 43–44.</ref> The letters were translated into Latin or English by Henry Oldenburg, who had learned Dutch for this very purpose.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} He was also the first to use the word ''[[animalcules]]'' to translate the Dutch words that Leeuwenhoek used to describe microorganisms.<ref name=lens/> Despite the initial success of Van Leeuwenhoek's relationship with the Royal Society, soon relations became severely strained. His credibility was questioned when he sent the Royal Society a copy of his first observations of microscopic single-celled organisms dated 9 October 1676.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Douglas|title=Wrote Letter 18 of 1676-10-09 (AB 26) to Henry Oldenburg |url= http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/wrote-letter-18-1676-10-09-ab-26-henry-oldenburg |website=Lens on Leeuwenhoek |access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> Previously, the existence of single-celled organisms was entirely unknown. Thus, even with his established reputation with the Royal Society as a reliable observer, his observations of microscopic life were initially met with some skepticism.<ref name="NickLane_RS">{{cite journal |author-link=Nick Lane |last=Lane |first=Nick |title=The Unseen World: Reflections on Leeuwenhoek (1677) 'Concerning Little Animal' |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=370 |issue=1666 |article-number=20140344 |date=6 March 2015 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2014.0344 |pmid=25750239 |pmc=4360124 }}</ref>

[[File:Acta Eruditorum - XVIII zoologia, 1682 – BEIC 13349171.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration of critique of ''Observationes microscopicae Antonii Levvenhoeck...'' published in ''[[Acta Eruditorum]]'', 1682 ]]

Eventually, in the face of Van Leeuwenhoek's insistence, the Royal Society arranged for Alexander Petrie, minister to the English Reformed Church in Delft; Benedict Haan, at that time Lutheran minister at Delft; and Henrik Cordes, then Lutheran minister at the Hague, accompanied by [[Sir Robert Gordon, 3rd Baronet|Sir Robert Gordon]] and four others, to determine whether it was in fact Van Leeuwenhoek's ability to observe and reason clearly, or perhaps, the Royal Society's theories of life that might require reform. Finally in 1677,<ref>Schierbeek, A.: "The Disbelief of the Royal Society". ''Measuring the Invisible World''. London and New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1959. n.p. Print.</ref> Van Leeuwenhoek's observations were fully acknowledged by the Royal Society.<ref>[http://recall.archive.org/stream/antonyvanleeuwen00dobe/antonyvanleeuwen00dobe_djvu.txt Full text of "Antony van Leeuwenhoek and his "Little animals"; being some account of the father of protozoology and bacteriology and his multifarious discoveries in these disciplines;"]. Recall.archive.org. accessed 20 April 2013.</ref>

Van Leeuwenhoek was elected to the Royal Society in February 1680 on the nomination of [[William Croone]], a then-prominent physician.{{#tag:ref|He was also nominated as a "corresponding member" of the [[French Academy of Sciences]] in 1699, but there is no evidence that the nomination was accepted, nor that he was ever aware of it.<ref>Dobell, pp. 53–54.</ref>|group="note"}} Van Leeuwenhoek was "taken aback" by the nomination, which he considered a high honour, although he did not attend the induction ceremony in London, nor did he ever attend a Royal Society meeting.<ref>Dobell, pp. 46–50.</ref> He had his portrait painted by [[Jan Verkolje]] with the certificate signed by [[James II of England]] on the table beside him.

===Scientific fame===
By the end of the seventeenth century, Van Leeuwenhoek had a virtual monopoly on microscopic study and discovery. His contemporary [[Robert Hooke]], an early microscope pioneer, bemoaned that the field had come to rest entirely on one man's shoulders.<ref>Dobell, pp. 52–53.</ref> In 1673, his first letter was published in the journal of the Royal Society of London. He was visited over the years by many notable individuals who gazed at the ''tiny creatures''. One of the first was [[Jan Swammerdam]].<ref name="lensonleeuwenhoek.net">{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/timeline/tax/visitors | title=Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref> Around 1675, it was [[Joan Huydecoper II|Johan Huydecoper]], who was very interested in collecting and growing plants for his estate ''Goudestein'', becoming in 1682 manager of the [[Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam]]. [[Christiaan Huygens]], [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]] (1676), [[John Locke]] (1678, 1685),  [[James II of England]] (1679), [[William III of England|William III of Orange]], [[Mary II of England]] and [[Sir Thomas Molyneux, 1st Baronet|Thomas Molyneux]] (in 1685) visited. In October 1697, Van Leeuwenhoek visited the Tsar [[Peter the Great]] on his boat, moored in the [[Schie]] or the [[Legermuseum|Arsenaal]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/visited-by-tsar-peter-russia | title=Visited by Tsar Peter the Great of Russia {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref> On this occasion, he presented the Tsar with an "eel-viewer", so Peter could study blood circulation whenever he wanted.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Bill |last1=Mesler |first2=H. James |last2=Cleaves |title=A Brief History of Creation: Science and the Search for the Origin of Life |year=2015 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-24854-8 |page=45}}</ref> In 1706, it was [[Govert Bidloo]]; in 1714, [[Richard Bradley (botanist)]]; and, in 1716, [[Herman Boerhaave]] and [[Frederik Ruysch]].<ref name="lensonleeuwenhoek.net"/> To the disappointment of his guests, Van Leeuwenhoek refused to reveal the cutting-edge microscopes he relied on for his discoveries, instead showing visitors a collection of average-quality lenses.<ref>Dobell, pp. 54–61.</ref>

==Techniques==

[[File:Vermeer-view-of-delft.jpg|thumb|Van Leeuwenhoek was born near the Oostpoort. View of Delft from the east by [[Johannes Vermeer]] ]] [[File:Delft, straatzicht Oosteinde vanaf de Oostpoort foto9 2016-03-13 10.41.jpg|thumb|Delft, straatzicht Oosteinde vanaf de Oostpoort]] [[File:Delft - Warmoesbrug over Hippolytusbuurt.jpg|thumb|Van Leeuwenhoek lived at Oude Delft, near Warmoesbrug over Hippolytusbuurt]]

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek made more than 500 optical lenses. He also created at least 25 single-lens microscopes, of differing types, of which only nine have survived. These microscopes were made of silver or copper frames, holding hand-made lenses. Those that have survived are capable of magnification up to 275 times. It is suspected that Van Leeuwenhoek possessed some microscopes that could magnify up to 500 times. Although he has been widely regarded as a dilettante or amateur, his scientific research was of remarkably high quality.<ref name="BrianJFord_1992">{{cite journal |author=Brian J. Ford|year=1992 |title=From Dilettante to Diligent Experimenter: a Reappraisal of Leeuwenhoek as microscopist and investigator |journal=Biology History |volume=5 |issue=3 |url=http://www.brianjford.com/a-avl01.htm}}</ref>{{citation needed|reason=Citation doesn't appear to confirm the numeric facts in this paragraph?|date=May 2024}}

The single-lens microscopes of Van Leeuwenhoek were relatively small devices, the largest being about 5&nbsp;cm long.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Douglas |title=Tiny Microscopes |url=http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/tiny-microscopes |website=Lens on Leeuwenhoek |access-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502095106/http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/tiny-microscopes |archive-date=2 May 2015}}</ref><ref>Lens on Leeuwenhoek: [http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/microscopes.htm How he made his tiny microscopes]. Lensonleeuwenhoek.net. accessed 15 September 2013.</ref> They are used by placing the lens very close in front of the eye. The other side of the microscope had a pin, where the sample was attached in order to stay close to the lens. There were also three screws to move the pin and the sample along three axes: one axis to change the focus, and the two other axes to navigate through the sample.

Van Leeuwenhoek maintained throughout his life that there are aspects of microscope construction "which I only keep for myself", in particular his most critical secret of how he made the lenses.<ref>[[#Moll|Moll 2003]]</ref> For many years no one was able to reconstruct Van Leeuwenhoek's design techniques, but, in 1957, C.L. Stong used thin glass thread fusing instead of polishing, and successfully created some working samples of a Van Leeuwenhoek design microscope.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/usph/usph.htm |title=A glass-sphere microscope |publisher=Funsci.com |access-date=13 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611200259/http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/usph/usph.htm |archive-date=11 June 2010 }}</ref> Such a method was also discovered independently by A. Mosolov and A. Belkin at the Russian [[Novosibirsk State Medical Academy|Novosibirsk State Medical Institute]].<ref>{{Cite journal |author=A. Mosolov |author2=A. Belkin |name-list-style=amp |year=1980 |url=http://school-collection.edu.ru/catalog/res/d9e6fc1e-b690-4d72-b4d0-091511481301/?sort=order&from=3709fea8-1ff7-26a5-c7c0-32f1d04346a8&interface=electronic&subject=22&rubric_id%5B%5D=39211 |title=Секрет Антони ван Левенгука (N 122468) |language=ru |trans-title=Secret of Antony van Leeuwenhoek? |journal=Nauka i Zhizn |volume=09-1980 |pages=80–82 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923214525/http://school-collection.edu.ru/catalog/res/d9e6fc1e-b690-4d72-b4d0-091511481301/?sort=order&from=3709fea8-1ff7-26a5-c7c0-32f1d04346a8&interface=electronic&subject=22&rubric_id%5B%5D=39211 |archive-date=23 September 2008 }}</ref> In May 2021, researchers in the Netherlands published a non-destructive neutron tomography study of a Leeuwenhoek microscope.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Cocquyt|first1=Tiemen|last2=Zhou|first2=Zhou|date=14 May 2021|title=Neutron tomography of Van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes|journal=[[Science Advances]]|volume=7|issue=20|article-number=eabf2402|pmid=33990325| doi=10.1126/sciadv.abf2402|pmc=8121416|bibcode=2021SciA....7.2402C |doi-access=free}}</ref> One image in particular shows a Stong/Mosolov-type spherical lens with a single short glass stem attached [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abf2402 (Fig. 4)]. Such lenses are created by pulling an extremely thin glass filament, breaking the filament, and briefly fusing the filament end. The nuclear tomography article notes this lens creation method was first devised by [[Robert Hooke]] rather than Leeuwenhoek, which is ironic given Hooke's subsequent surprise at Leeuwenhoek's findings.

Van Leeuwenhoek used samples and measurements to estimate numbers of microorganisms in units of water.<ref>{{cite journal |author=F. N. Egerton |year=1967 |title=Leeuwenhoek as a founder of animal demography |journal=Journal of the History of Biology |doi=10.1007/BF00149773 |jstor=4330484 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=1–22|s2cid=85227243 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Frank N. Egerton |year=2006 |doi=10.1890/0012-9623(2006)87[47:AHOTES]2.0.CO;2 |volume=87 |page=47 |title=A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 19: Leeuwenhoek's Microscopic Natural History |journal=Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America |doi-access= }}</ref> He also made good use of the huge advantage provided by his method. He studied a broad range of microscopic phenomena, and shared the resulting observations freely with groups such as the British [[Royal Society]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/hooke.html |title=Robert Hooke (1635–1703) |publisher=Ucmp.berkeley.edu |access-date=13 June 2010}}</ref> Such work firmly established his place in history as one of the first and most important explorers of the microscopic world. Van Leeuwenhoek was one of the first people to observe cells, much like Robert Hooke.<ref name="hup"/> He also corresponded with [[Antonio Magliabechi]].<ref name="dbnl.org">{{cite web | url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_ver025192401_01/_ver025192401_01_0012.php | title=De 2e en de 3e Engelsche reeksen der brieven van Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (7e Bijdrage tot de Studie over de werken van den Stichter der Micrographie) door Prof. Dr. A.J.J. Vandevelde Werkend Lid der Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie., Verslagen en mededelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde 1924 }}</ref>

==Discoveries==

[[File:Antonius van Leeuwenhoek. Mezzotint by J. Verkolje, 1686, af Wellcome V0003466.jpg|thumb|Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. [[Mezzotint]] by J. Verkolje, 1686]]

*Leeuwenhoek was one of the first to conduct experiments on himself. It was from his finger that blood was drawn for examination, and he placed pieces of his skin under a microscope, examining its structure in various parts of the body, and counting the number of vessels that permeate it.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |title=Levende Dierkens |url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/levende-dierkens |website=Lens on Leeuwenhoek}}</ref>
* Both [[Marcello Malpighi]] and Jan Swammerdam saw these structures before Leeuwenhoek, but Leeuwenhoek was the first to recognize what they are: [[red blood cells]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1674: Perhaps will to many seem incredible |url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/1674-perhaps-will-many-seem-incredible |website=Lens on Leeuwenhoek}}</ref> Leeuwenhoek described the [[RBCs]] movement within the vessels: “''If we now plainly perceive that the passage of the blood from the arteries into the veins of the tadpole is not performed in any other than those vessels, which are so minute as only to admit the passage of a single globule at a time, we may conclude that the same is performed in like manner in our own bodies and in those of other animals.''” <ref>{{Cite web |last=Elbaba |first=Mostafa |date=2025-01-01 |title=From a Fabric Shop to the Royal Society of London. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek |url=https://www.academia.edu/144238312 |publisher=Egyptian Society for History of Medicine}}</ref> 
* [[Infusoria]] ([[protist]]s in modern [[zoology|zoological]] classification), in 1674
* In 1675, he was studying a variety of minerals, especially salts, and parts of plants and animals.
* The [[vacuole]] of the cell in 1676
* [[spermatozoon|Spermatozoa]], in 1677. For that he said: “''Man comes not from an egg but from an animalcule that is found in male sperm,” and added “For my part, I would say that the male sperm and seeds of plants have been penetrated so far that there is nothing further to discover in this great secret, but I could err in my opinion.''” <ref>{{Cite web |last=Elbaba |first=Mostafa |date=2025-01-01 |title=From a Fabric Shop to the Royal Society of London. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek |url=https://www.academia.edu/144238312 |publisher=Egyptian Society for History of Medicine}}</ref> 
* The banded pattern of [[muscular fibers]], in 1682
* Bacteria, (e.g., large [[Selenomonad]]s from the human mouth), in 1683<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson |first=Douglas |title=Wrote Letter 39 of 1683-09-17 (AB 76) to Francis Aston |url=http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/wrote-letter-39-1683-09-17-ab-76-francis-aston |work=Lens on Leeuwenhoek |access-date=26 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820153516/http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/wrote-letter-39-1683-09-17-ab-76-francis-aston |archive-date=20 August 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref group=note>The "Lens on Leeuwenhoek" site, which is exhaustively researched and annotated, prints this letter in the original Dutch and in English translation, with the date 17 September 1683. Assuming that the date of 1676 is accurately reported from Pommerville (2014), that book seems more likely to be in error than the intensely detailed, [http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/about-web scholarly researched] website focused entirely on Van Leeuwenhoek.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pommerville |first=Jeffrey |title=Fundamentals of microbiology |publisher=[[Jones & Bartlett Learning]] |location=Burlington, Mass. |date=2014 |page=6 |isbn=978-1-4496-8861-5 }}</ref><ref group=note>Sixty-two years later, in 1745, a physician correctly attributed a diarrhea epidemic to Van Leeuwenhoek's "bloodless animals" ([[#Valk|Valk 1745]], cited by [[#Moll|Moll 2003]]).</ref>
* It seems he used [[horseradish]] to find out what causes irritation on the tongue.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://bibliotekar.ru/100otkr/68.htm | title=Микробы. Антони ван Левенгук |trans-title=Microbes. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek |website=bibliotekar.ru |language=ru}}</ref> He used the effect of [[vinegar]].
* Leeuwenhoek diligently began to search for his animalcules.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He found them everywhere: in rotten water, in ditches, on his own teeth. "Although I am now fifty years old," he wrote to the Royal Society, "my teeth are well preserved, because I am in the habit of rubbing them with salt every morning." He described [[paradontitis]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/leeu027alle04_01/leeu027alle04_01_0008.php#b0076 | title=Brief No. 76 [39]. 17 September 1683., Alle de brieven. Deel 4: 1683–1684, Anthoni van Leeuwenhoek |trans-title= |website=www.dbnl.org |language= }}</ref>
* In 1684 he published his research on the [[ovary]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/eyerstok | title=Eyerstok {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref>
* In 1687, Van Leeuwenhoek reported his research on the [[coffee bean]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/wrote-letter-187-of-1687-05-09-members-royal-society | title=Wrote Letter L-187 of 1687-05-09 to members of the Royal Society about the structure of 'stone' of the medlar and the coffee bean and acid in plants {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/rs-read-and-discussed-letter-187 | title=The Royal Society read and discussed part of Letter L-187 about coffee {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref> He roasted the bean, cut it into slices and saw a spongy interior. The bean was pressed, and an oil appeared. He boiled the coffee with rain water twice and set it aside.<ref>9 May 1687, Missive 54.</ref>
* Leeuwenhoek corresponded regularly with [[Anthonie Heinsius]], the Delft [[pensionary]] in the [[States of Holland]] and in 1687 member of the board of the Delft chamber of the [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]].
* In 1696 [[Nicolaas Witsen]] sent him a map of [[Tartary]] and [[ore]] found near the [[Amur]] in Siberia.<ref>Marion Peters (2010) De wijze koopman, Het wereldwijde onderzoek van Nicolaes Witsen (1641–1717), burgemeester en VOC-bewindhebber van Amsterdam. p. 139</ref>
* Van Leeuwenhoek has been recognized as the first person to use a [[histological stain]] to color specimens observed under the microscope using [[saffron]].<ref name="Schulte, 1991">{{cite journal| author=Schulte EK| title=Standardization of biological dyes and stains: pitfalls and possibilities. |journal=Histochemistry |year=1991 |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=319–28 |pmid=1708749 |doi=10.1007/BF00266958| s2cid=29628388 }}</ref> He used this technique only once.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/specimen-preparation | title=Specimen preparation {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/illumination | title=Illumination {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref>
* In 1702 he requested a book on Peruvian silver mines in [[Potosí]].

Like [[Robert Boyle]] and [[Nicolaas Hartsoeker]], Van Leeuwenhoek was interested in dried [[cochineal]], trying to find out if the [[dye]] came from a [[berry]] or an insect.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Antoni van Leeuwenhoek |author2=Samuel Hoole |title=The Select Works of Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Containing His Microscopical Discoveries in Many of the Works of Nature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SfIKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA213 |date=1800 |publisher=G. Sidney |pages=213–}}</ref><ref>[http://www.strangescience.net/leeuwenhoek.htm Rocky Road: Leeuwenhoek]. Strangescience.net (22 November 2012). accessed 20 April 2013.</ref><ref>Greenfield, Amy Butler (2005). ''A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire''. New York: Harper Collins Press. {{ISBN|0-06-052276-3}} {{page needed|date=September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/wrote-letter-194-of-1687-11-28-members-royal-society | title=Wrote Letter L-194 of 1687-11-28 to members of the Royal Society about his discovery that cochineal was an insect and his experiments with cinchona bark {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref>

He studied rainwater, the seeds of oranges, worms in sheep's liver, the eye of a whale, the blood of fishes, [[mite]]s, [[coccinellidae]], the skin of elephants, [[Chelidonium majus|Celandine]], and [[Cinchona]].<ref name="dbnl.org"/>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes by Henry Baker.jpg|alt=Schematic drawings|Van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes by [[Henry Baker (naturalist)|Henry Baker]]
File:Leeuwenhoek boerhaave.jpg|Leeuwenhoek Boerhaave museum
File:Leeuwenhoek Microscope.png|alt=See caption|A replica of a microscope by Van Leeuwenhoek

</gallery>

==Legacy and recognition==

[[File:Gezicht op de vismarkt en de Vleeshal te Delft Zee-visch marckt en Vlees-hal (titel op object), RP-P-AO-11-20.jpg|thumb|View on Fish- and Meatmarket in Delft, opposite of Van Leeuwenhoek's house]] [[File:Vleeshal Delft.jpg|thumb|Vleeshal Delft]]

By the end of his life, Van Leeuwenhoek had written approximately 560 letters to the Royal Society and other scientific institutions concerning his observations and discoveries. Even during the last weeks of his life, Van Leeuwenhoek continued to send letters full of observations to London. The last few contained a precise description of his own illness. He suffered from a rare disease, an uncontrolled movement of the [[midriff]], which now is named ''[[Van Leeuwenhoek's disease]]''.<ref>Life and work of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek of Delft in Holland; 1632–1723 (1980) Published by the Municipal Archives Delft, p. 9</ref> He died at the age of 90, on 26 August 1723, and was buried four days later in the [[Oude Kerk (Delft)|Oude Kerk]] in Delft.<ref>{{cite book |first=Antoni |last=van Leeuwenhoek |title=On the circulation of the blood: Latin text of his 65th letter to the Royal Society, Sept. 7th, 1688 |year=1962 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill Hes & De Graaf]] |page=28 |isbn=978-90-6004-098-0}}</ref>

In 1981, the British microscopist [[Brian J. Ford]] found that Van Leeuwenhoek's original specimens had survived in the collections of the Royal Society of London. They were found to be of high quality, and all were well preserved.<ref>''Biology History'' vol 5(3), December 1992</ref><ref>''The Microscope'' vol 43(2) pp 47–57</ref><ref>''Spektrum der Wissenschaft'' pp. 68–71, June 1998</ref> Ford carried out observations with a range of single-lens microscopes, adding to our knowledge of Van Leeuwenhoek's work.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brianjford.com/wavintr.htm |title=The discovery by Brian J Ford of Leeuwenhoek's original specimens, from the dawn of microscopy in the 16th century |publisher=Brianjford.com |access-date=13 June 2010}}</ref> In Ford's opinion, Leeuwenhoek remained imperfectly understood, the popular view that his work was crude and undisciplined at odds with the evidence of conscientious and painstaking observation. He constructed rational and repeatable experimental procedures and was willing to oppose [[received opinion]], such as [[spontaneous generation]], and he changed his mind in the light of evidence.<ref name="BrianJFord_1992"/>

On his importance in the history of microbiology and science in general, the British biochemist [[Nick Lane]] wrote that he was "the first even to think of looking—certainly, the first with the power to see." His experiments were ingenious, and he was "a scientist of the highest calibre", attacked by people who envied him or "scorned his unschooled origins", not helped by his secrecy about his methods.<ref name="NickLane_RS"/>

The [[Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital]] in Amsterdam, named after Van Leeuwenhoek, is specialized in [[oncology]].<ref>[https://www.avl.nl/ Antoni van Leeuwenhoek] (in Dutch). www.avl.nl accessed 25 October 2016.</ref> In 2004, a public poll in the Netherlands to determine the greatest [[Dutch people|Dutchman]] ("[[De Grootste Nederlander]]") named Van Leeuwenhoek the 4th-greatest Dutchman of all time.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.com/2/hi/europe/4015173.stm |title=Fortuyn voted greatest Dutchman |website=news.bbc.com |date=16 November 2004 |access-date=26 March 2020 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

On 24 October 2016, Google commemorated the 384th anniversary of Van Leeuwenhoek's birth with a [[Google Doodle|Doodle]] that depicted his discovery of "little animals" or animalcules, now known as unicellular organisms.<ref>[https://time.com/4542058/antoni-van-leeuwenhoek-google-doodle/ New Google Doodle Celebrates Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Inventor of Microbiology] time.com accessed 24 October 2016.</ref>

The [[Leeuwenhoek Medal]], [[Leeuwenhoek Lecture]], [[Leeuwenhoek (crater)|Leeuwenhoek crater]], ''[[Leeuwenhoeckia]]'', ''[[Levenhookia]]'' (a genus in the family Stylidiaceae), ''[[Leeuwenhoekiella]]'' (an aerobic bacterial genus), and the scientific publication ''[[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek: International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology]]'' are named after him.<ref>[https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/leeuwenhoek-lecture/ Leeuwenhoek Medal and Lecture] ''royalsociety.org'' accessed 24 October 2020</ref>

As a fictional character, he appears as a [[flea circus]] owner, microscopist and magician in [[E.T.A. Hoffmann]]'s novel [[Master Flea]], together with [[Jan Swammerdam]].

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Memorial Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.jpg|Memorial of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the [[Oude Kerk (Delft)|Oude Kerk]] in Delft
File:Graf Leeuwenhoek2.jpg|alt=Gravestone with Dutch inscription|Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is buried in the Oude Kerk.
File:Delft - Het Gouden Hoofd (Hippolytusbuurt).jpg|Het Gouden Hoofd (Hippolytusbuurt 1–3, Delft)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/hippolytusbuurt-3 | title=Hippolytusbuurt 3, Leeuwenhoek's Home and Laboratory {{pipe}} Lens on Leeuwenhoek |website=lensonleeuwenhoek.net}}</ref>
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Animalcule]]
* [[Regnier de Graaf]]
* [[Dutch Golden Age]]
* [[History of microbiology]]
* [[Microscopy]]
* [[Microscope]]
* [[Robert Hooke]]
* [[Microscopic discovery of microorganisms]]
* [[Microscopic scale]]
* [[:Category:Science and technology in the Dutch Republic|Science and technology in the Dutch Republic]]
* [[Scientific Revolution]]
* [[Nicolas Steno]]
* [[Jan Swammerdam]]
* [[Timeline of microscope technology]]
* [[Johannes Vermeer]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
* Cobb, Matthew: ''Generation: The Seventeenth-Century Scientists Who Unraveled the Secrets of Sex, Life, and Growth''. (US: Bloomsbury, 2006) {{ISBN|9781596910362}}
* Cobb, Matthew: ''The Egg and Sperm Race: The Seventeenth-Century Scientists Who Unlocked the Secrets of Sex and Growth''. (London: Simon & Schuster, 2006)
* Davids, Karel: ''The Rise and Decline of Dutch Technological Leadership: Technology, Economy and Culture in the Netherlands, 1350–1800'' [2 vols.]. (Brill, 2008, {{ISBN|978-9004168657}})
* {{cite book |author-link=Clifford Dobell |last=Dobell |first=Clifford |orig-date=1932 |location=New York |title=Antony van Leeuwenhoek and His "Little Animals": being some account of the father of protozoology and bacteriology and his multifarious discoveries in these disciplines |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt, Brace and Company]] |url=https://archive.org/details/antonyvanleeuwen00dobe |year=1960 |edition=[[Dover Publications]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Ford |first=Brian J. |title=The Leeuwenhoek Legacy |location=Bristol and London |publisher=Biopress and Farrand Press |date=1991}}
* [[Brian J. Ford|Ford, Brian J.]]: ''Single Lens: The Story of the Simple Microscope''. (London: William Heinemann, 1985, 182 pp)
* Ford, Brian J.: ''The Revealing Lens: Mankind and the Microscope''. (London: George Harrap, 1973, 208 pp)
* Fournier, Marian: ''The Fabric of Life: The Rise and Decline of Seventeenth-Century Microscopy'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0801851384}})
* {{cite book |last=Huerta |first=Robert |publisher=[[Bucknell University Press]] |date=2003 |location=Pennsylvania |title=Giants of Delft: Johannes Vermeer and the Natural Philosophers: The Parallel Search for Knowledge during the Age of Discovery}}
* {{cite web| ref=Moll| last1=Moll| first1=Warnar| title=Antonie van Leeuwenhoek| url=http://www.euronet.nl/users/warnar/leeuwenhoek.html| website=Onderzoeksportal [Research Portal]|publisher=University of Amsterdam| access-date=3 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040218065849/http://www.euronet.nl/users/warnar/leeuwenhoek.html#bloodless| archive-date=18 February 2004|year=2003| quote=[Referring to [[#Valk|Valk (1745)]]] Indeed, in this publication "Geneeskundig Verhaal van de Algemeene Loop-ziekte..." the author uses the work of Leeuwenhoek in describing the disease, draws some (preliminary) conclusions about the cause of the disease, he warns "non-believers of Van Leeuwenhoek to use a magnifying glass" and gives commentaries on the work of Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek and his findings.}}
* {{cite book |last=Payne |first=Alma Smith |title=The Cleere Observer: A biography of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London |date=1970}}
* Ratcliff, Marc J.: ''The Quest for the Invisible: Microscopy in the Enlightenment''. (Ashgate, 2009, 332 pp)
* Robertson, Lesley; Backer, Jantien et al.: ''Antoni van Leeuwenhoek: Master of the Minuscule''. (Brill, 2016, {{ISBN|978-9004304284}})
* {{cite book |last=Ruestow |first=Edward G |title=The Microscope in the Dutch Republic: The Shaping of Discovery |location=New York |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=1996}}
* {{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Laura J. |author-link=Laura J. Snyder |date=2015 |title=Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing |location=New York |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] }}
* Struik, Dirk J.: ''The Land of Stevin and Huygens: A Sketch of Science and Technology in the Dutch Republic during the Golden Century (Studies in the History of Modern Science)''.  (Springer, 1981, 208 pp)
* {{cite book| ref=Valk| last1=Valk| first1=Evert| title=Een geneeskundig verhaal van de algemeene loop-ziekte, die te Kampen en in de om-geleegene streeken heeft gewoed in 't jaar 1736 neevens een werktuigkunstige, en natuurkundige beschryvinge van de oorzaak, uitwerking en genezinge waar in word aan-getoond, dat dezelve, waarschynlyk, door bloed-loose diertjes, beschreven in de werken van Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, het werd te weeg gebragt, en door kwik voor-naamentlyk, uit-geroeid| trans-title=A work on a disease in the city of Kampen in 1736 caused by "little animals". These bloodless animals are most likely the little animals described in the work of Leeuwenhoek and they can be killed by treatment of mercury| date=1745|publisher=Van der Vinne| location=Haarlem| page=97| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CEVcAAAAcAAJ&q=evert+valk+Kundig| access-date=3 March 2016| language=nl}}
* Wilson, Catherine: ''The Invisible World: Early Modern Philosophy and the Invention of the Microscope''. (Princeton University Press, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0691017099}})
* {{cite book|last=de Kruif|first=Paul|author-link=Paul de Kruif|date=1926|pages=3–24|title=Microbe Hunters|chapter=I Leeuwenhoek: First of the Microbe Hunters|series=Blue Ribbon Books|publisher=Harcourt Brace & Company Inc.|location=New York|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.221187/page/n3/mode/2up|access-date=14 October 2020}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Commons and category|Anton van Leeuwenhoek|Anton van Leeuwenhoek}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110717184722/http://www.vanleeuwenhoek.com/Letters.htm Leeuwenhoek's letters]}} to the [[Royal Society]] (archived)
* [http://emlo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/blog/?catalogue=anthonie-van-leeuwenhoek The Correspondence of Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek] in EMLO
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110723181050/http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/index.html Lens on Leeuwenhoek] (site on Leeuwenhoek's life and observations; archived)
* [http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/dutch_art/leeuwenhoek.html Vermeer connection website]
* [http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/leeuwenhoek.html University of California, Berkeley article on van Leeuwenhoek]
* {{Gutenberg author |id=8336| name=Antoni van Leeuwenhoek}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Antonie van Leeuwenhoek}}
* [http://www.brianjford.com/Lab%20News%20Sept%20pA4-A6.pdf Retrospective paper on the Leeuwenhoek research by] [[Brian J. Ford]].
* [http://www.brianjford.com/wavrbcs.htm Images seen through a van Leeuwenhoek microscope by Brian J. Ford].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130120184920/http://www.mindspring.com/%7Ealshinn/Leeuwenhoekplans.html Instructions on making a van Leeuwenhoek Microscope Replica by Alan Shinn] (archived)

{{Antonie van Leeuwenhoek}}
{{Optical microscopy}}
{{Natural history|state=expanded}}
{{History of biology}}
{{Biology-footer}}
{{Bacteria}}
{{Protozoa protist}}
{{Fungus}}
{{Microorganisms}}
{{Age of Enlightenment}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van}}
[[Category:Antonie van Leeuwenhoek| ]]
[[Category:1632 births]]
[[Category:1723 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch businesspeople]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch inventors]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch naturalists]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch biologists]]
[[Category:18th-century Dutch biologists]]
[[Category:Burials at the Oude Kerk, Delft]]
[[Category:Dutch Calvinist and Reformed Christians]]
[[Category:Dutch microbiologists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Microscopists]]
[[Category:People from Delft]]
[[Category:Protistologists]]
[[Category:Dutch scientific instrument makers]]