Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Quotes


I have divers times examined the same matter (human semen) from a healthy man... not from a sick man... nor spoiled by keeping... for a long time and not liquefied after the lapse of some time... but immediately after ejaculation before six beats of the pulse had intervened; and I have seen so great a number of living animalcules... in it, that sometimes more than a thousand were moving about in an amount of material the size of a grain of sand... I saw this vast number of animalcules not all through the semen, but only in the liquid matter adhering to the thicker part.


Citations

Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van. The Collected Letters of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. Vol. 2, Swets & Zeitlinger, 1941, p. 277.

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Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
  • Born: October 24, 1632
  • Died: August 26, 1723
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Profession: Scientist

Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek FRS was a Dutch businessman and scientist in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and one of the first microscopists and microbiologists. Van Leeuwenhoek is best known for his pioneering work in microscopy and for his contributions toward the establishment of microbiology as a scientific discipline.