Editing Microscope (section)

{{short description|Scientific instrument}}
{{about|microscopes, the instruments, in general|light microscopes|Optical microscope|other uses}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{pp-move}}
{{More science citations needed|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox laboratory equipment
|name   = Microscope
|image  = Ukrainian microscope (cropped).jpg
|uses   = Small sample observation
|notable_experiments = Discovery of [[Cell (biology)|cells]]
|inventor =
|related = [[Optical microscope]], [[electron microscope]]
}}

A '''microscope''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|μικρός}}'' ({{grc-transl|μικρός}})|small||''{{wikt-lang|grc|σκοπέω}}'' ({{grc-transl|σκοπέω}})|to look (at); examine, inspect}}) is a [[laboratory equipment|laboratory instrument]] used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the [[naked eye]]. [[Microscopy]] is the [[science]] of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. [[Microscopic]] means being invisible to the eye unless aided by a microscope.

There are many types of microscopes, and they may be grouped in different ways. One way is to describe the method an instrument uses to interact with a sample and produce images, either by sending a beam of [[light]] or [[electron]]s through a sample in its [[optical path]], by detecting [[fluorescence|photon emission]]s from a sample, or by scanning across and a short distance from the surface of a sample using a probe. The most common microscope (and the first to be invented) is the [[optical microscope]], which uses [[lens]]es to [[refract]] [[visible light]] that passed through a [[microtome|thinly sectioned]] sample to produce an observable image. Other major types of microscopes are the [[fluorescence microscope]], [[electron microscope]] (both the [[transmission electron microscope]] and the [[scanning electron microscope]]) and various types of [[scanning probe microscope]]s.<ref name="CAP">{{cite book|title=Characterization and Analysis of Polymers|date=2008|publisher=Wiley-Interscience|location=Hoboken, NJ|isbn=978-0-470-23300-9}}</ref>