Elf vergrotingen van bloedlichaampjes en een vergroting van een micrometer before 1882

This is a printed illustration from a book, showing eleven enlarged views of blood cells alongside one of a micrometer. This image exemplifies a key shift in the late nineteenth century: the increasing professionalization of science. Developments in microscopy meant it was suddenly possible to see, and therefore study, the previously invisible microscopic world. The ordered, scientific layout of the page speaks to a growing desire to categorize and classify all aspects of the natural world. The act of recording and publishing these images would have been seen as a way of democratizing access to scientific knowledge, and communicating recent discoveries to a wider audience. We might ask whether this image reflects a specifically Western worldview, with its emphasis on objectivity and empirical observation. To understand this better, we could research the history of scientific illustration and the development of microscopy in different cultural contexts. We could also look at how these images were used in teaching, and how that in turn shaped attitudes towards science.