Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was a 17th century Dutch scientist. He is best known for discovering protozoa, and creating more than 500 simple microscopes. Van Leeuwenhoek was the first scientist to closely observe cells under a microscope. One of his most groundbreaking dicoveries was also one of his first. His observations, in 1674, of scummy pond water, led to the first visual descriptions and illustrations of such common organisms as the algae spirogyra. This contributed towards the foundation of several branches of biology. He made one of the first recorded observations of bacteria when he studied the plaque from his teeth. He noticed what he called ‘animalcules’ in the saliva sample. These animalcules were actually bacteria. He gava cells their name because he thought they resembled the shape of a monk’s quarters. Although Van Leeuwenhoek never received any formal scientific training, he is considered to br the father of microbiology for his contributions to that field of science.
