300 years of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – 1723)

2023 marks 300 years since Antoni van Leeuwenhoek passed away at the age of 90, following a life full of wonder, observations, and discoveries. Through his self-made lenses, he revealed a micro-universe that had never before been seen by a human. It is also 350 years since Van Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope. The exhibition 'Onvoorstelbaar' (Unimaginable) is on view from April 18, 2023, to January 7, 2024, at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden.

Leven

Van Leeuwenhoek was born in Delft in 1632 as the son of Philips Antonyszoon, a basket maker, and Margaretha Bel van den Berch, who came from a family of brewers. On November 4, 1632, he was baptized as 'Thonis Philipszoon'; he called himself Van Leeuwenhoek because his parental home in Delft stood on the corner next to the Leeuwenpoort. When he was five years old in 1637, his father died, and shortly thereafter his mother remarried. Ten years later, his stepfather passed away. He attended school in Warmond and stayed with an uncle in Benthuizen. Subsequently, he was trained in Amsterdam for five to six years as a cashier and bookkeeper for the Scottish cloth merchant William Davidson.

At a young age, he developed a broad interest in astronomy, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Van Leeuwenhoek married Barbara de Meij and moved with her to Delft in 1653 or 1654, where he opened a shop selling linen, yarn, and ribbon. They had five children. Obtaining the sinecure of Chamber Keeper to the Aldermen in 1660 provided him with a steady income. He managed the administration of justice, which at that time took place at the town hall; from 1679 onwards, he was a wine gauger (inspector of the contents of wine barrels); and he served as a trustee of estates, such as that of Johannes Vermeer in 1675. An extensive analysis of the relationship between Vermeer and van Leeuwenhoek can be found in the exhibition 'Het Delft van Vermeer' at Museum Prinsenhof Delft. Highly recommended for anyone wishing to learn more about Vermeer the man, his working and living environment, and his personal 'network'. He was baptized four days after Vermeer in the same church, the Dutch Reformed. new church in Delft.

Some even suggested that the naturalist might have served as a model for Vermeer's paintings. The Geographer (Van Leeuwenhoek was also a surveyor since 1669) and The Astronomer, and that he supposedly provided the artist with lenses for his camera obscura, but this has never been proven.

In 1666 Barbara died, and Van Leeuwenhoek remarried in 1671 to Cornelia Swalmius, a descendant of a family of ministers. In 1694 Cornelia also died, leaving him alone with his daughter Maria – his other children had already passed away. Van Leeuwenhoek was a wealthy man. This is evident from the fortune his daughter left behind twenty years after his death: 90 guilders, but it is also evident from his purchase in 1666 of a garden outside the city and the fact that he owned a horse in 1681. On August 26, 1723, Van Leeuwenhoek died in his birthplace, nearly 91 years old. According to the stories, on his deathbed he dictated a letter to the Royal Society in which he described the fluttering of his diaphragm so thoroughly that the condition is called Van Leeuwenhoek's disease. He was buried on August 31, 1723 in the Old church buried in Delft.

 

Microscopes

How the earliest microscopes came into being is unclear, but at the beginning of the 17th century, the Republic had two renowned lens makers in Middelburg. Hans Lippershey (1570-1619) and Sacharias Jansen (c. 1585-1632) are associated with the invention of the microscope and the telescope. As a result, the cloth merchant Van Leeuwenhoek had access to lenses and loupes for inspecting fabrics. In 1648, he got his hands on a magnifying glass for the first time: a loupe for the textile trade with a magnifying power of three – a thread counter. The Dutchman Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680) and the Englishman Robert hooke (1635-1703) already used a compound microscope with an eyepiece and objective, but the magnifying power of these devices paled in comparison to the strong lenses that Van Leeuwenhoek would produce. For instance, Hooke's compound microscope magnified only 30×, whereas the magnifying power of Van Leeuwenhoek's simple microscope could reach up to 270×, as evidenced by an example manufactured by Van Leeuwenhoek in the possession of the University Museum in Utrecht. [/ One_half] [one_half_last]             Hooke's microscopic scientific research led in September 1664 to the groundbreaking book Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Miniature Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses. In it, Robert Hooke meticulously describes, among other things, a plant cell, a fly's eye, and a vlo. [one_half] [/ One_half] [one_half_last]                 It is possible that this publication indirectly inspired Van Leeuwenhoek to focus his lenses on something other than sheets. Van Leeuwenhoek was a self-taught man: without any scientific training and without knowledge of foreign languages, he taught himself the art of observation and description in a back room of the shop. But he was also an amazing craftsman who taught himself to blow, grind, and polish glass. Unlike Hooke's compound microscope, Van Leeuwenhoek almost always clamped a single lens between two metal plates; the subject to be studied was clamped with screws and positioned so that it could be observed sharply.

His scientific status stood or fell with his exclusive knowledge of lens production, and for this reason, he jealously guarded his method. He recorded his observations and conclusions in letters he wrote to acquaintances, through which the Delft physician and anatomist Reinier de Graaf introduced him to the Royal Society in London in 1673. From 1674 onwards, his findings were published in the Philosophical Transactions, but eventually, his wondrous observations aroused so much disbelief that a delegation was dispatched to behold the microscopic creatures with their own eyes. In 1680, the Society appointed him a member, and he received recognition for his scientific work. Van Leeuwenhoek sent many preparations to London. In 1981, the British microscopist Brian J. Ford discovered that Van Leeuwenhoek's original preparations were preserved in excellent condition and of high quality in the Royal Society's collections. Until his death in 1723, Van Leeuwenhoek sent letters containing his findings to the Royal Society. [/ One_half] [one_half_last]               According to the theory of spontaneous generation, life arises from inanimate material (for example, maggots from rotting meat or fleas from dirty sheets). Due to the natural unity observed by Van Leeuwenhoek, such as sperm cells in animals and plants, he rejected this theory and concluded that all dead and living matter consisted of small spherical particles: globules, in accordance with the prevailing doctrine of Descartes. However, after studying muscle tissue, he acknowledged that meat is not composed of such globules, but of 'striations' found from insects to mammals.  

Why is 2023 the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek year?

The story of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek deserves a wide audience. The scientific revolution and the Enlightenment were shaped, one could say, through Antoni's lens. The discovery of bacteria, the structure and functioning of plants, animals, and humans, the unraveling of reproduction; breakthroughs from Van Leeuwenhoek's time. The early microscopists, with Van Leeuwenhoek as their figurehead, helped lay the foundation for modern science. Observation, recording, and experimenting according to scientific rules are based on the experiences of these first discoverers. This voyage of discovery, which Van Leeuwenhoek began with his contemporaries, continues to this day. The Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Year has the mission of emphasizing the importance of science and imagination in society. Science is one of the foundations of our society. However, trust in science is sometimes under pressure. In the information society, the source of knowledge is not always reliable. What is true? What is not true? Understanding science is therefore of great importance to young people and adults. The story of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek inspires a new generation to choose a career in science, technology, and innovation, from researchers to visionaries. Microbiology is invaluable in helping to solve major issues in areas such as climate, food, health, and energy. We can better solve the biggest problems through knowledge of the smallest. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek is a source of inspiration for humanity to be curious, to discover more and further, to invent, to observe well, and to transmit knowledge for a better understanding of life, our world, and perhaps even the cosmos.

Interinstitutional cooperation. The year was established by a number of founding partners.

• Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
• Huygens Institute for History and Culture
• TU Delft
• Royal Netherlands Society for Microbiology / Microcanon Foundation & the Microbesclub
• Netherlands Institute for Biology

Source used: Rijksmuseum Boerhaave Leiden.  

Dutch Society for Medical Microbiology

At the end of the 19th century, microbiology developed as a new science with great prospects for advances in medicine and the fermentation industry. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, from Delft, was the first to see bacteria with his self-made lenses. His findings were published in letters to the Royal Society in London.

Again in Delft, two centuries later, the production of baker's yeast on an industrial scale was started by the “Gist- en Spiritusfabriek”. Royal Gist-Brocades (now part of DSM) later emerged from this company. An employee of the factory was the microbiologist Martinus Willem Beijerinck, who was appointed professor of the Chair of Microbiology at the Delft University of Applied Sciences, later Delft University of Technology, in 1895. Beijerinck was thus the first professor of general microbiology in the Netherlands. About ten years earlier, a chair in Medical Microbiology had been established at the University of Amsterdam, and one of the alumni was Christiaan Eijkman, who later became professor of medical microbiology at the University of Utrecht.

Due to the increased interest in the study of microorganisms, the Dutch Society for Microbiology (NVvM) was founded on April 20, 1911, with Beijerinck as its first chairman. In 2011, the Society celebrated its 100th anniversary and received the designation "Royal" on that occasion. In addition, there was the NVLA (Dutch Association for Laboratory Physicians), the professional and interest group for clinical chemistry physicians and medical microbiologists. The NVvM had various sections, including the medical section. The medical section of the NVvM merged with the NVLA in 1992 to form the NVMM.

 

<strong> More info: </strong>

2023, the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek year: https://rijksmuseumboerhaave.nl/avljaar/ Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Exhibition: https://rijksmuseumboerhaave.nl/te-zien-te-doen/onvoorstelbaar/