Microscopy: Early History of Microscopy (Joseph Gall)

Talk Overview: Joseph Gall takes us through the history of early microscopes and the discovery of the cell. Compound microscopes were invented alongside the telescope in the 17th century; however these microscopes were not widely used until the late 19th century due to optical aberrations. In the meantime, simple microscopes were used throughout the 1700s and 1800s to make major discoveries in biology, including the first descriptions of the nucleus, cilia, cells, bacteria, and protozoans. Once optics improved in the mid to late 1800s, compound microscopes were used to discover chromosomes, mitosis, and other cellular structures.

About the Speaker: Joe Gall: Joseph Gall is a Professor at the Carnegie Institution for Science and is a leader in the field of cell biology. He has spent much of his career studying the nucleus and its contents, and has made numerous significant contributions to our understanding of chromosome structure and function. Gall, a distinguished microscopist, is one of the first members and an early president of the American Society for Cell Biology. Gall, who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, has received numerous awards for his contributions to science, including the Louisa Horwitz Prize and an Albert Lasker Special Achievement Award.

[maracachucho]

I'm gonna be honest, I thought I was gonna get bored with this video, yet found myself completely submerged in the topic, mouth open and everything. Great lecture!

[akhileshtayade]

It was amazing to learn about the history of the microscope. Thanks to iBio team and Prof. Gall :D

[britoronto]

Thank you Joe! Brings back terrific memories of your microscopy course at Carnegie. We were absolutely spellbound., and your course was a memorable highlight of my scientific education. Doug called you the Yoda of microscopy, and rightly so.

[ITouchTheEastStar]

Excellent lecture. we will miss you Joe!

[sam]

I have a question about the instrument shown starting around 16:38 . I'm looking at the thing that the specimens are mounted on that is obviously made to slide back and forth. Is this where the term "slide" came from?

[peters]

Wonderful lecture!  Thank you very much - surprised there aren't more comments on this fascinating subject.  For you science minded people, this lecture will surely provide a lot of interesting history you likely don't know about on the development of the microscope and the discovery of the cell.. 

[taoli]

Great lecture! Now I'm trying really hard to get rid of the spherical aberration of my set-up...I even use a SLM to correct it :)

[nfscsk]

So..… its the Robert hooke who started the two areas of study(mechanical engineering and medical science) which are now very much separated and seen like north and south poles of area of study.

[eqlzr]

I never thought I would say such a thing, but after watching probably tens of thousands of youtube vids, the deadpan repetition of scientific facts can be extremely boring. I found myself longing for a close-up of Carl Sagan's face on the screen saying "billions and billions".

[migranthawker]

I was looking forward to a really interesting video, but the manner of the presentation was so boring, even at 1.25x speed, that I only lasted a few minutes!