Appreciating van Leeuwenhoek: The Cloth Merchant Who Discovered Microbes

Appreciating van Leeuwenhoek: The Cloth Merchant Who Discovered Microbes Imagine trying to cope with a pandemic like COVID-19 in a world where microscopic life was unknown. Prior to the 17th century, people were limited by what they could see with their own two eyes. But then a Dutch cloth merchant changed everything. His name was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and he lived from 1632 to 1723. Although untrained in science, Leeuwenhoek became the greatest lens-maker of his day,...