| Date | 1879 |
| Author | Abbe |
| Contribution | Advocated use of homogeneous immersion system. |
| Reference | Bradbury |
| Notes | Acknowledged being prompted by 1878 paper of Stephenson, and having hitherto failed to follow-up his own independent ideas on the subject. Tolles had made immersion lens using thinned balam; did Abbe know about this? Abbe adopted cedar wood oil as the immersion fluid. In 1878-79, he made superior lenses (numerical aperture up to 1.35) that were intended for immersion use only, and thus did not need a correction collar to allow for cover-glass thickness. They provided a high standard of optics and convenience, and played an important role in making possible the rapid rise of microbiology and the germ theory of disease. |
| Category | Microscopy |
| Pathogen Class | General |
Copyright © 2007- William C. Campbell. All rights reserved.