This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-14,232 MILACEK, Barbara Roads, 1936- THE MICROSCOPE AND NINETEENTH CENTURY EDUCATION. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D„ 1966 Education, hi^ory University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE MICROSCOPE AND NINETEENTH CENTURY EDUCATION A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY BARBARA ROADS MILACEK Norman, Oklahoma 1966 THE MICROSCOPE AND NINETEENTH CENTURY EDUCATION APPROVED BY DISSERTATION COMMITTEE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS An undertaking such as this cannot be accomplished without the aid and encouragement of many people. First, to Dr. Paul Unger, my advisor and chairman who has guided my graduate program for the past three years, appreciation is expressed for his help and encouragement throughout the entirety of my program but especially for help with this dissertation. Acknowledgment and warm thanks are also given to the other members of my committee. Dr. Lloyd Williams, Dr. Kenneth Mills, Dr. Duane Roller, and Dr. Thomas Smith for their time, advice, and interesting classes. I am very grateful to Dr. Roller, who was unable to serve on the Dissertation Committee as he was in Europe but who served as a member of the original committee and has been especially helpful in allowing me free use of the History of Science Collection. A special thanks is given to Dr. Thomas Smith who assigned the topic of this present study for a seminar paper and who willingly took Dr. Roller's place on my committee. Many others have been extremely helpful. Without the cooperation of the Interlibrary Loan Department of the University of Oklahoma Library and the University of Oklahoma Medical School Library, the research for this paper would have been incomplete. Appreciation and thanks are also given to the graduate students and staff of the History of Science Collection; their help has been invaluable. iii Without the aid of a two year scholarship from the American Physical Therapy Association - Vocational Rehabilitation Administration, graduate work would have been impossible; this financial aid was greatly appreciated. Acknowledgment is also made to the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Oklahoma School of Physical Therapy who have offered encouragement and tolerance throughout this past year. Last but not least, grateful appreciation is expressed to my husband, Leonard, who urged me to undertake graduate work and who has willingly made numerous personal sacrifices so this goal could be achieved. Our son, Mark, has also made his contribution by attending nursery school and kindergarten and by doing with less attention than a little boy deserves from his mother. Barbara Roads Milacek IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES. .................................. vi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION............... 1 II. THE EVOLUTION OF THE MICROSCOPE............... 18 III. THE AVAILABILITY OF THE MICROSCOPE............ 4-6 IV. THE MICROSCOPE IN FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES........ 53 V. THE ROLE OF THE MICROSCOPE IN AI'IERICAN MEDICAL SCHOOLS............................ 87 VI. THE MICROSCOPE IN OTHER AMERICAN COLLEGES. 115 VII. CONCLUSIONS.................................. 168 APPENDIX ........................................... 179 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................... 183 V LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Introduction of the Microscope into American Medical Education................................ 113 II. Use of the Microscope in American Colleges......... 163 VI THE MICROSCOPE AND NINETEENTH CENTURY EDUCATION CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Today the microscope is considered an important tool in science education. It is an essential item in the school laboratory. Not only is the microscope used as a tool in teaching science, but also the use of the microscope is taught in special micro-technique courses in order that the microscope can be effectively used as a tool in laboratory in­ vestigations. Microscopes are considered necessary even in the elemen­ tary and secondary school science classrooms. They are extensively advertised in school science journals, and their use is encouraged. Yet the microscope has not always been considered an essential tool in teaching science. Presumably the microscope has long been considered a luxury in the school room. It is difficult to imagine the teaching of science without the use of the laboratory and its associated equipment. However the advent of laboratory teaching is relatively recent. In fact, the teaching of courses concerning science is also relatively recent. In comparison to the relatively recent advent of the microscope into the classroom, this instrument has a long and fascinating history. It has been around in one form or another for several centuries. It 1 2 has been a popular tool for scientific amusements as well as an important tool in scientific achievements. In the seventeenth and eighteenth cen­ turies, many laymen pursued a self-study of natural objects with the microscope. Meyers stated that the appeal of the microscope as well as the telescope was a romantic one which tantalized the imagination of seven­ teenth and eighteenth century mankind. According to Meyers one reason which encouraged a study of nature was the belief that a familiarity with sciences would fill a person with love and esteem for God.^ "It seemed to be avinmatio with the eighteenth century that if technicians would provide England with a sufficient supply of microscopes, that 2 nation would reap a plentiful harvest of good Christians." In 1746, a book appeared written by a mathematical, philosophical, and optical instrument-maker, George Adams. The purpose of his book was to explain microscopes, his own microscopes, and to explain how and what to observe under them. In other words, this was a book popularizing the use of the microscope by interested laymen. Adams stated: If then a serious Contemplation of the Works of God, may justly be consider'd as an excellent Kind of Knowledge, and worthy of our Pursuit; and if all those Works, though different in Degrees of Splendour, are still perfect; it is hoped, that an humble Attempt to improve, and encourage the study of any Branch of Natural Philo­ sophy, will not be unacceptable to the Publick. And since the Knowledge of the Microscope has always been look'd upon as no inconsiderable Branch of Natural Philosophy, and as that Part of it Gerald Dennis Meyer, The Scientific Lady in England 1650-1760: An Account of Her Rise with Emphasis on the Manor Roles of the Telescope and Microscope (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1955.), p. 1. ^Ibid.. p. 87. 3 has more particularly fallen within the Compass of the Author’s Studies, he has ventured to make it the Subject of the following Treatise; a Subject, which has so often employ’d the most learned Men, that it can hardly stand in Need of an apology for the Choice of it. The Microscope is an Instrument so curious and entertaining, and so generally esteemed amongst the learned Part of the World, that one great Reason of its being so much disre­ garded by Men of Leisure and Fortune, must be owing to the Dif­ ficulty of using some of those, which have been nitherto invented. Besides, many persons have neglected the Microscope, from an apprehension, that a good Degree of Knowledge in Opticks would be necessary to their Understanding even the experimental Part of it; whereas nothing more is really required, than good Eyes, good Glasses, and a well-constructed Instrument; with these Helps, a common Understanding, and a little Practice, will be sufficient to carry us through this Branch of Natural Philosophy. Henry Baker also published two books in the middle of the eighteenth century. The purpose of both of these books was to spread knowledge about the use of the microscope and to encourage the use of 2 it by people to increase their knowledge of nature. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was considered a very proper pastime for women also to study nature with the microscope. According to Meyer, the telescope and microscope exerted a 3 strong and direct appeal to the feminine mind. The microscope espe­ cially became a delight of laymen (particularly women) because it was small, portable, cheap, and relatively easy to use.^ The microscope was popular among women of the bourgeoise as well as the nobility.^ ^George Adams, Micrographia Illustrata or The Knowledge of Microscope Explain’d; Together with an Account of a New Invented Uni­ versal. Single or Double Microscope. Either of which is capable of being applied to an Improv’d Solar Apparatus (London: Printed for and Sold by the author, 174-6), p. 6. 2 Henry Baker, Employment for the Microscope in Ti.’-o Parts (London: R. Dosley, 1753), passim, and Henry Baker, The Microscope Made Easy (3rd Edition, London: R. Dodsley, 1744.)? passim. ^Meyer, p. vii. '^Ibid.. p. 95. ^Ibid.. p. x. Instrument makers took the opportunity to increase their business by further stimulating the interest in the microscope and the study of nature among women. They wrote and illustrated popular books and gave scientific lectures to which ladies were invited.^ One instrument maker, Benjamin Martin (1701.-1782) who was also a member of the Royal Society, strove to interest ladies and young people particularly in the microscope. In his The Young Gentleman and Ladv's Philosophv he related much scientific information by use of a popular dialogue. At the same time he made mention of the many kinds