In 1981, during the Presidency of Sir Andrew Huxley, nine packets of specimens were found by the author amongst Leeuwenhoek’s papers at the Royal Society. It transpired that the presence of several of these packets had been noted by one or two earlier workers, but their existence had since been overlooked. Examination of the surviving material by both optical and electron microscopy has revealed how he prepared his material, and confirmed what an excellent technician Leeuwenhoek became. This bibliography lists over 140 publications on this topic.
Leeuwenhoek has been condemned for failing to link microorganisms to transmissible diseases. It is argued that, in his appreciation of the wonder of microbes in the firmament of living organisms, Leeuwenhoek was closer to a true appreciation of their role in the conduct of a global ecology than much contemporary science.
BJF., 1981, The van Leeuwenhoek Specimens, Notes & Records of the Royal Society, 36 (1): 37-59.
Day, Sir Robin, 1981, Interview with BJF on specimens, BBC News, 1315h, 29 July.
BJF, 1981, Leeuwenhoek’s Specimens discovered after 307 years, Nature, 292: 407, 30 July.
BJF, 1981, Found - van Leeuwenhoek’s Original Specimens, New Scientist, 91: 301, 30 July.
Berry, Adrian, 1981, Finds sheds Light on Microscopy, Daily Telegraph: 5, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Historic Find in Vaults, The Scotsman, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Biologist makes Historic Find, Evening Express, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Microbiology - Historic Find, Doncaster: Evening News,, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Science Shock, Birmingham: Evening Mail, 30 July.
Report, 1981, First in Field by 200 Years, Glasgow Herald, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Discovery of Microscopic Specimens 300 years old, Oxford Mail, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Specimen Finds alter our History, Evening Leader, 30 July.
Report, 1981, New Find shatters Scientists’ Beliefs, South Wales Echo, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Science given a Micro Shock, Evening Mail, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Specimen finds shows Science is much Older, Shropshire Star, 30 July.
Report, 1981, Biology Slides 300 years old, Evening Echo & Post, 30 July.
Script, 1981, The News Quiz, BBC, 1830h, 31 July:
‘Simon: Gillian Reynolds - where would you go underground
for a seventeenth century slideshow? Answer: To the vaults of the
Royal Society where biologist Brian Ford revealed that slides
prepared by Antony Leeuwenhoek - a Dutch 17th century pioneer of
the microscope - shows that his techniques were almost as
advanced as today’s. The collection of slides includes
examples of cell structure, views of Bournemouth and fragments of
a British Rail Edam sandwich.’
Walgate, Robert, 1981, Origineles coupes van Leeuwenhoek verrasend dun, NRC Handelsblad, 12 August.
BJF, 1981, The Leeuwenhoek Specimens. [Presentation and
exhibit for Quekett Microscopical Club], Natural History Museum,
25 August.
[reported in: Quekett Microscopical Club Newsletter, 21:
1a, March 1982].
Award, 1981, BJF’s correlated electron and optical micrographs of sections cut by Antony van Leeuwenhoek [highly commended], Royal Microscopical Society Competition, 15 September.
Report, 1981, BJF discovers Leeuwenhoek specimens, Science Digest, 89 (9): September.
BJF, 1981, Specimens from the Dawn of Microscopy, Biologist, 28 (4): 180-181.
BJF, 1981, A Clear Case of Second Sight, The Guardian: 22, 22 October.
Temple, Robert, 1981, Tiny Tomb, Science People, Discover, 2 (10): 88, October.
Knox, Peter, 1981, Ancient Lens, Observer Colour Magazine: 27, 22 November.
Cairns, John, 1981, Report on Leeuwenhoek specimens, Aquatic Biology , Louisiana, November.
BJF, 1981, Ce qu’observaient les Premiers Microscopistes, La Recherche, 12: 1147-1149.
BJF, 1981, The Annotation of Leeuwenhoek’s packets of Specimens - a Preliminary Account, Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society, 16 (6): 393-395.
BJF, 1981, Lo que Observaban los Primeros Microscopistas [translation from La Recherche], Mundo Cientifico, 1 (9): 1037-1039.
BJF, 1981, The Mystery of the Missing Microscopes, Illustrated London News, 269: 76-77, December.
Rogers, James, 1982, What Leeuwenhoek Saw, Scientific American, 246 (1): 79-80, January.
BJF, 1982, Bacteria and Cells of human Origin on van Leeuwenhoek’s Sections of 1674, [leading paper], Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, 101 (1): 1-9.
Degeunt, Philippe, 1982, [Television interview], Leeuwenhoek’s Researches, Élémentaire, mon cher Einstein, French Television, 15 March.
BJF, 1982, The Lost Treasure of Anton van Leeuwenhoek [with illustrations], Science Digest, 90 (3): 88-92, 110, March.
Award, 1982, View of Leeuwenhoek’s Specimens through the Microscope at Utrecht, [prizewinner in] Annual International Photographic Exhibition, Institute of Science Technology, April.
BJF, 1982, Cytological examination of Leeuwenhoek’s first Microbial Specimens, [invited contribution and lead paper], Tissue and Cell, 14 (2): 207-217.
Report, 1982, A Vision Rediscovered, Science Now magazine, 2 (20): 556-559.
Poster, 1982, The World’s Oldest Microscope Specimens - A Special Lecture by BJF, London: Natural History Museum, July.
Announcement, 1982, The World’s Oldest Microscope Specimens, Today’s Events, The Times, 25 September.
BJF, 1982, World’s Oldest Microscope Specimens [lecture for the public], Natural History Museum, 1500h, 25 September.
Knight, Sam, 1982, A Mystery is Solved [lecture report], Western Mail, 27 September.
BJF, 1982, The Origins of Plant Anatomy - Leeuwenhoek’s Cork Sections Examined [invited contribution], International Association of Wood Anatomists’ Bulletin, ns 3 (1): 7-10.
BJF, 1982, The Rotifera of Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Microscopy, 34 (5): 362-373.
BJF, 1982, Revelation and the Single Lens, British Medical Journal, 285: 1822-1824, (reprinted as pp 1-7), December.
BJF, 1982, Antony van Leeuwenhoek’s Sections of Bovine Optical Nerve, The Microscope, 30: 171-181.
BJF, 1982, Leeuwenhoek’s Original Specimens Examined after 307 Years [revised version of paper in Nature], Photographic Review, Olympus, 3 (1): 10-12.
Palm, L. C., and Snelders, H., 1982, [cite Brian J Ford’s Leeuwenhoek research in], Antoni van Leeuwenhoek: 80, 187 et seq., Amsterdam.
BJF, 1983, What were the Missing Microscopes really Like? Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society, 18, (2): 118-124, March.
Nester, E. W., Roberts, C. E., Lidstrom, M. E., Pearsall, N. N., & Nester, M. T., 1983, [include BJF illustrations of Leeuwenhoek specimens in] Microbiology, third edition: Figs 1-2, a & b, 1-6, and cite BJF Microbiology and Food, p776, Philadelphia and New York: Saunders College Publishing, September.
BJF, 1984, Leeuwenhoek Bibliography, Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society, 19, (1): 3, January.
BJF, 1984, Bacteria and Cells of Human Origin on van Leeuwenhoek’s Sections of 1674 [adapted from: Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, q.v.,] Lead Article, Bioscience, 34 (2): 106.
BJF, 1984, [Presentation] New Light on the Origins of Biological Microscopy, Royal Society Conversazione, 10 May.
Daerr, Nancy, 1984, Leeuwenhoek Re-visited with BJF, Inter-Micro 84 Programme, Chicago, Illinois, June.
Report, 1984, The Origins of Biological Microscopy, Catalogue of Exhibits, Royal Society Soirée, 21 June.
Report, 1984, BJF’s ‘fascinating submission’ to RMS Photomicrograph Exhibition, Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society, 19, (4): 184.
List, 1984, Micrograph Prizewinners, Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society, 19, (4): 186, par 4.
BJF, 1984, Una Ojeada Electronica a los Animalculos de Leeuwenhoek, Rassengna, [Central American Medical Journal], 2: 12-15.
de Duve, Christian, 1984, Cites Brian J Ford Leeuwenhoek research [in] Preparing for the Tour, A Guided Tour of the Living Cell, xi, 7, New York: Rockefeller University Press, September.
Mann, R. D., 1984, [cites BJF in] Modern Drug Use, an Enquiry based on Historical Principles: viii, 250-251, Lancaster and Boston: MTP Press, November.
BJF, 1984, Discovery and the Simple Microscope, Special Public Lecture, Natural History Museum, 1500h, 10 November.
Report, 1985, Speuren met oude spullen van Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Logboek van de Wetenschap, Eindhovens Dagblad: 11, 12 April.
Award, 1985, Technical Photomicrographs, International Photographic Competition, London: Institute of Science Technology, Autumn.
BJF, 1985, [paper] Origins of Microscopy, Cambridge Medical Society, Newmarket, 15 November.
Frank, Arthur, 1985, Lost or Forgotten Microscopes [cites the ‘recent discovery by Brian J Ford’], Microscopy, 35: 270-271.
Kleinsmith, Lewis & Kish, Valerie, 1986, Principle Of Cell Biology: 4 [includes van Leeuwenhoek specimen of Elder], New York: Harper-Collins.
Announcement, 1986, BJF and ‘The First Specimens for the Microscope’ Conversazione Presentation, The Linnean: 3, 30 April.
Darnell, James; Loadish, Harvey; & Baltimore, David, 1986, describe Brian J Ford’s Leeuwenhoek research (plus two illustrations) in Molecular Cell Biology: 3, 1187, New York: Scientific American Books, August.
BJF, 1986, The Leeuwenhoekiana of Clifford Dobell, Notes & Records of the Royal Society 41 (1): 95-105, November.
Wall, C. E. (editor), 1987, Brian J Ford on Antony van Leeuwenhoek, in The Book of Days: 533-34, Pierian Press.
Nuttall, R. N., 1987, [cites BJF Leeuwenmhoek research in] Development of the Microscope 1800-1851, Microscopy 35: 591-604.
Wessels, N. K. & Hopson, J. L., 1988, [cite Leeuwenhoek specimens in] Biology: 97, plate 5-1, New York, Random House, May.
Russell, N., 1989, Report of BJF’s lecture, Antony van Leeuwenhoek as an Experimental Biologist, Biology History, 2 (2): 12.
BJF, 1988, Lecture at Inter-Micro 88: i) An Evening with Brian J Ford - The Natural History of the Lens, Chicago: 27 June.
.McCrone W., 1988, [reports] BJF paper to Inter-Micro 88, Life History of the Lens, The Microscope, 36 (4): 232.
Palm, L. C., 1989, [Cites Brian J Ford in] Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 43: 198, 207, August.
Hall, A. R., 1989, [Cites Brian J Ford in] Antony van Leeuwenhoek, ibid., 43: 248-273, August.
BJF, 1989, The Discovery of Saccharomyces, Ferment, 2 (4): 221-223, August.
BJF, 1989, [proofs] Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Microscopist and Scientist, Institute of Biology, September.
BJF, 1989, Reappraising the Origins of Microscopy [with colour illustrations], Leading Paper, Microscopy and Analysis, 13: 7-10.
BJF, 1989, The Early History of the Optical Microscope [lecture], Appalachian Microscopical Society Meeting at Charleston, South Carolina, 20 October.
BJF, 1989, Leeuwenhoek’s Techniques of Microscopy [lecture], Clemson University, South Carolina, 21 October.
BJF, 1989, A New History of the Microscope [lecture demonstration], Linnean Society, Burlington House, 2 November.
Highfield, R., 1989, 1600 Microscope as Good as Modern One [with picture], Daily Telegraph: 7, 3 November.
BJF, 1990, What could a Leeuwenhoek Microscope reveal? Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical Society, 25 (2): 132.
BJF, 1992, La Naissance de la Microscopie [lead article], Paris: La Recherche , 23 (249): 1370-1378, Decembre.
BJF, 1995, Hidden Secrets of the Microscope, illustrated lecture to British Association, Newcastle University, 1600h, 13 September.
BJF, 1996, Hidden Secrets of the Royal Society Archive [illustrated lecture], Systemics and Museum Collections, Linnean Society Regional Meeting, Belfast: Ulster Museum, 1430h, 28 August.
BJF, 1997. The Birth of Crystallography and the Dawn of Duplicity, Lecture at Birkbeck College, London University, 1300h, 12 May.
BJF, 1997. Earliest days of the Optical Microscope, Lecture at Padova University, 1530h, 2 June.
BJF, 1997. Anton, Antony or Antoni? What was Leeuwenhoek’s name? Lecture at Inter Micro 97: 0930h, 23 July, Chicago: McCrone Research Institute.
BJF, 1997. Analysis of Leeuwenhoek’s specimens for the microscope, Microscopical Society of Southern California lecture, Los Angeles, 1900h, 28 October.
BJF, 1997. Antony van Leeuwenhoek and the Single Lens Microscope, San Francisco Microscopical Society and California Association of Criminalists lecture, Berkeley, 2000h, 30 October.
BJF, 1998. The Earliest Views, Scientific American (US edition), 278 (4): 50-53, (British edition), 278 (4): 42-45, April. Reprinted as: Premières images au microscope, Pour la Science, 249: 169-173; and Frühe Mikroskopie, Spektrum der Wißenshaft: 68-71, June 1998. [Other editions in Chinese, Japanese, Polish and Spanish, q.v.]
BJF, 1998, Recreating the Birth of Modern Science, (lecture to Kelvin Club), Cambridge: Peterhouse, 17 November, 1900h.
BJF, 1998, How the Microscope was Born, (presentation) London: Royal Institution discussion evening, 1 December, 1800-1900h.
BJF, 1999. Leeuwenhoek images [in] Exhibition on Microscopy, Corning Museum of Glass, New York: Corning, in preparation.
BJF, 1999, Stepping back in time - how the first microscopists viewed their specimens, presentation to Cambridge University Philosophical Society, 1 February, 2000h.
BJF, 2000, 'Witnessing the Birth of the Microscope', [photoessay in] Millennium Yearbook of Science and
the Future 2000: 192-209,
Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2000.
BJF, 2000, The earliest days of the microscope [chapter in] Yearbook of Science and the Future 2000, ISBN 0-85229-702-5, Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, pp 192-209.
BJF, 2000, interviewed on Leeuwenhoek and bacteria, High Resolution, BBC Scotland, 28 January.
BJF, 2000, Recreating the Origins of Modern Biology, 120th Anniversary and Millennium Lecture, Manchester Microscopical Society, University of Manchester Medical School. 1900-2100h, 17 February.
BJF, 2000, Eighteenth Century Scientific Publishing, [chapter in] Thornton and Tully's Scientific Books, Libraries and Collectors, ed. Andrew Hunter: 216-257, London: Quaritch, March.
BJF, 2000, Hidden secrets in the Royal Society library, illustrated lecture to Friends of the University Library, Cambridge, 13 May, 1100-1200h.
BJF, 2000, The Amateurs who Give us Science (seminar), London: Institute of Cultural Research, 1430-1630h, 27 May.
BJF, 2000, Home-made microscopes (video presentation) Inter Micro 2000, Chicago: McCrone Research Institute, 27 June 1230-1250h.
Anon, 2000, Noted British microscopist, Microscopy Today, 00 (5): 5.
Anon, 2000, BJF receiving August Kohler award, News of Members, Biobits: 6, July.
Report, 2000, British win US microscopy award again (with colour picture), Laboratory News, Microscopy and Imaging: 3, August.
Report, 2000, August Kohler Award (with colour picture), Microscopy and Analysis: 55, September.
Applebaum, Wilbur (ed), 2000, cites BJF's Leeuwenhoek Legacy in Encyclopaedia of the Scientific Revolution: 357-8, New York: Garland.
BJF, 2000, Tracing the Roots of Modern Bioscience, illustrated lecture, Georgia Microscopical Society, Atlanta: Fernbank Science Center, 1900-2000h, 27 September.
BJF, 2000, Revelations of the First Microscopes, illustrated lecture, New York Microscopical Society, New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1900-2000h, 28 September.
BJF, 2000, The microscope and the birth of bioscience, Cavendish Laboratory seminar, University of Cambridge, 1430-1530h, 27 October.
McCrone, 2000, reports Brian J Ford at Inter Micro, The Microscope, 48 (3): 135, 138, 145.
Parnes, O, 2000, cites Single Lens, 1985 [in] Science in Context, 13: 71.
Ratcliff, M., 2000, cites BJF in Microscopy, 1982 and Single Lens, 1985 [in] Science in Context, 13: 93.
Ford, Brian J., 2001, The Royal Society and the Microscope, Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 55 (1): 1-25, January.
Report, 2001, A Grand Occasion (with photograph) Biobits: 1, January.
Report, 2001, BJF award at Georgia Microscopical Society (with photograph) Biobits: 5, January.
BJF, 2001, Twenty years of the Leeuwenhoek Specimens, Laboratory News: A4-A5, September.
Corliss, John O, 2002, citations of Brian J Ford Single Lens and Leeuwenhoek Legacy [in] A Salute to Antony van Leeuwenhoek of Delft, Protist, 153: 177-190, June.
BJF, 2002, interviewed on Leeuwenhoek by Adam Hart-Davis [in] New Worldes, What the Stuarts Did for Us, BBC 2, 20-30-2100h, 11 November.
Bishop, L M, 2003, includes Leeuwenhoek cork section imaged by Brian J Ford through a scanning electron microscope [in] How to win the Nobel Prize, notes from an Unexpected Life in Science, Harvard: University Press.
Coppedge, David, 2003, includes image of Leeuwenhoek microscope [in] Microscopic Magnificence, Christian History, 76, vol XXI (4): 42-43.
BJF, 2003, interviewed on Leeuwenhoek by Adam Hart-Davis [in] New Worldes, What the Stuarts Did for Us (repeat), BBC 2, 2030-2100h, 26 June.
BJF, 2003, interviewed on Leeuwenhoek, Inventors Imperfect, BBC Radio 4, 1100-1130h, 29 October. [Sound file in archive].
Rudzik, Eileen Pyne, 2003 (ed) includes microscope images by Brian J Ford [in] Flow of Matter in Living Systems, Pearson Education Canada.
Paustian, Timothy, 2004, publishes BJF Leeuwenhoek micrographs in microbiology text for Atomic Dog (www.atomicdog.com).
Vellinga, Willem-Pier, 2004, published BJF Leeuwenhoek micrographs in microscopy coursebook, Eindhoven University of Technology.
Bishop, L M, 2004, includes Leeuwenhoek cork section imaged by Brian J Ford through a scanning electron microscope [in] How to win the Nobel Prize, notes from an Unexpected Life in Science, Harvard: University Press.
BJF, 2005, The Discovery of Giardia, The Microscope 53 (4): 147-153.
Wheelis, M., 2007, publishes Brian J Ford micrograph of human blood under Leeuwenhoek microscope [in] Microbiology, Jones and Bartlett Publishers (in press).