Sarsarparilla root under the microscope.

Looking up from underneath a microscope

Animal flight muscle mitochondria

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), artwork

Beale-type microscope, England, 1871-1900

Bioblasts

Illustration of Lister's microscope.

Montage of photographs in connection with the Bubonic plague

Frog's foot specimen prepared by Joseph Lister, 1857

Leeuwenhoek simple microscope (copy), Leyden, 1901-1930

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Page 37, fig. 21. From John Quekett, A practical treatise on the use of the microscope, including the different methods of preparing and examining animal, vegetable, and mineral structures. London, 1848.

This specimen was prepared by Joseph Lister (1827-1912) while studying inflammation in the 1850s. Inflammation is the response of tissues in the body to infection or injury. The symptoms are pain, heat, swelling and redness. Lister was not certain that the early stages of inflammation had been correctly understood. He studied a live frog’s leg under the microscope, applying different irritants to the leg such as chloroform and mustard to study how inflammation happened and affected a healthy limb, its blood-vessels and the flow of blood.

maker: Lister, Baron Lister, Joseph

Place made: United Kingdom

A scientist using a microscope for a mastoid exploration - operation of the mastoid bone. The mastoid bone is located at the base of the skull, behind the ear. It is attached to the middle ear and has a honeycomb structure, its main role is to provide air filled space to facilitate movement of the ear drum.

Surgery, UK. Mastoid exploration

Digital artwork depicting boron nitride nanotubes (purple/green/orange hexagonal structures). A microscope and binary code are visible in the background. Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are structurally similar to carbon nanotubes but with significantly different chemical and physical properties. Like carbon, boron nitride can form a 2-dimensional sheet one atom thick, which can roll up to form a tubular nanostructure. They are being investigated for use in biomedical and medical applications such as drug delivery, neutron capture therapy (a type of radiotherapy used to treat some cancers) and for their use in biomaterials.

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Microscope

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Illustration of Lister's microscope.

Frog's foot specimen prepared by Joseph Lister, 1857

Surgery, UK. Mastoid exploration

Surgery, UK. Mastoid exploration

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), artwork

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Microscope

Images

Works

Illustration of Lister's microscope.

Frog's foot specimen prepared by Joseph Lister, 1857

Surgery, UK. Mastoid exploration

Surgery, UK. Mastoid exploration

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), artwork

Wellcome Collection

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