Microscopy is the technical field concerned with the use of microscopes to view

objects or things which cannot be seen by our naked eye. Microscope came from the
two Greek words , mikrs, "small" and , skopen, "to look" or "see". It was
in 16th century when Hans and Zaccharias Janssen documented the first microscope. In
the 17th century Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch tradesman and scientist or most
commonly known as the Father of Microbiology made an Alpha 300x flea glass Ping-
pong paddle type. He opened a new world when he used the rain water and saw the
animalcules mocing all over the microscope. He was able to do all of these because he
was very curious with the things around him.

A microscope, for it to become useful, needs to have these characteristics. First,

it must have adequate magnifying power. Second, it must have a good resolving power
or resolution. And lastly, it must have good definition. Magnification and resolving power
are inversely proportional with each other. The more you magnify the object, the more it
decreases its resolution and vice versa.

A microscope has three main parts. The magnifying part that enlarges the object,
the illuminating part which is responsible for supplying light and the mechanical part
which supports and operates the microscope. The illuminating part consists the
following: mirror, diaphragm, and condenser. The mirror directs and reflects the light to
illuminate the specimen. Diaphragm controls and regulates the light and the condenser
which serves to concentrate the light rays on the specimen. The magnifying part is
composed of ocular, LPO, HPO, and oil immersion objective. The ocular is used for the
magnification of the image formed. The LPO is responsible for the general view of the
specimen. The HPO gives the detailed view of the specimen and the Oil immersion
objective gives the delicate property of the specimen. Lastly, the mechanical part is
composed of the stage, coarse adjustment knob, fine adjustment knob, revolving
nosepiece, draw tube, body tube, dust shield, base, pillar and inclination screw. Stage is
the platform where the specimen is being mounted. The coarse adjustment knob is
used to bring the object into focus while the fine adjustment knob is used for more
delicate and precise focusing. The revolving nosepiece is used to get the desired
objective in place. Dust shield protects lower lenses from dust. The base is the heavy U
or Y shaped foot and the pillar is the post that supports the upper part of the
microscope. And lastly, the inclination screw which permits the upper part to be tilted.