How has microscopy affected the development of society, technology, and science?

Answer 1

Microscopes allowed the discovery of microscopic organisms that are not visible to the naked eye. This discovery made the germ theory of disease possible, so tiny creatures were responsible for diseases not just bad humours or evil spirits.

Answer 2

No simple questions for you, huh? Briefly, the microscope has opened the world of the previously invisible to mankind, revealing the cause of many diseases and the fundamental building blocks of life and of matter itself.

Robert Koch formulated the germ theory of disease when he was able to figure out how to stain bacteria for easier viewing. When he noticed that certain bacteria were present in the blood or body fluids of patients with a certain disease and were absent in those who didn't have it, he realized that microorganisms were responsible for some of the major diseases at the time (cholera, tuberculosis, and anthrax among them) With the realization that diseases were caused by microscopic organisms and because of evil spirits or bad smells (really!), a more rational view of the natural world began to develop, as we looked closer at our own bodies and determined the cell structure of living tissues.

The more we were able to see with our microscopes, the more we wanted to see, and thus, we began to develop more and more powerful microscopes, finally reaching the limits of the visible and progressing to the subatomic with scanning and tunnelling electron microscopes. While the existence of atoms and molecules was known and believed by the scientific establishment, it wasn't until we were able to actually take a picture of one that we confirmed it once and for all.