But Leeuwenhoek was ‘more than a good microscope maker’, observes Alma Smith Payne in The Cleere Observer. ‘He was also an excellent microscopist – a user of microscopes.’ He documented everything. He repeated observations. He conducted methodical experiments. Even though he was an amateur, the scientific method instinctively ran deep within him – as did a scientist’s untrammelled curiosity about the world. Through his lenses, he gazed at animal hairs, fly heads, wood, seeds, whale muscle, skin flakes, and ox eyes. He saw marvels, and he showed them to friends, family, and scholars in Delft.
