Accession No
0437
Brief Description
achromatic compound microscope, by Smith and Beck, English, 1851
Origin
England; London; 6 Coleman Street
Maker
Smith and Beck
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1851
Latest Date
1851
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass); glass; wood
Dimensions
height 490mm; depth 195mm; breadth 224mm; box length 254mm; breadth 204mm; height 71mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from T.H. Court in 05/1927. Sold to Edward W. Cooke direct from Smith & Beck on 27/12/1851.
Inscription
‘Smith & Beck/ 6, Coleman St/ LONDON./607’
Description Notes
Improved large type. Brass. Circular base with three horizontal feet. A double pillar to pivoting bar which carries the limb. Tail piece with swinging plano/concave mirror on sliding shoe. Square mechanical partly rotating stage. Shoe with rack below for accessories. Large knurled screw either side of limb for coarse focus. Fine focus by graduated screw on the front of the body ‘1-10’. draw tube graduated 1-6’.
Separate fitted box of accessories (which it is claimed on the back of the catalogue card had been bought by Whipple separately). Inside the box are 3 objectives all in signed brass cases 1 1/2 2 /3 4 /10, 2 eyepieces, 2 lieberkuhns, polarising eyepieces, stage condenser, sub stage condenser, stage forceps, tweezers, key, 3 dark stops, live object box, substage holder, rotating objective holder, no shoe for substage accessories.
References
Events
Description
When light travels through an ordinary lens each colour is bent through a different angle. In a microscope this causes what is known as chromatic aberration, whereby a spectrum of colours will appear around the image being viewed. Chromatic aberration was a big draw back when using early versions of the compound microscope.
Chromatic aberration was overcome due to the important work by Lister in 1830 who developed the achromatic lens for microscopes. The new type of lens prevented colour separation by combining two lenses made of different types of glass. The first lens that light passed through would split the colours and the second lens acted to bring the colours back together again. This produced a much sharper and clearer image than was previously achieved.
In the Victorian period the achromatic microscope became a vital tool in medical and scientific research. Improvements to the optical performance of the microscope saw developments in the design and construction of the microscope. The microscope became sturdier and could focus to a finer level.
Scientific instrument makers in the Victorian period who improved the rigidity of the optical tube and the focusing ability of the achromatic microscope include Andrew Ross, James Smith and Hugh Powell.
FM:42812
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