 'to look or see ' . In 1610 , he used a telescope at close range to magnify the parts of insects . By 1624 Galileo had used a compound microscope . He gave one of these instruments to Cardinal Zollern in May of that year for presentation to the Duke of Bavaria , and in September he sent another to Prince Cesi . The Linceans played a role again in naming the " microscope " a year later when fellow academy member Giovanni Faber coined the word for Galileo 's invention from the Greek words μικρόν ( micron ) meaning " small " , and σκοπεῖν ( skopein ) meaning " to look at " . The word was meant to be analogous with " telescope " . Illustrations of insects made using one of Galileo 's microscopes , and published in 1625 , appear to have been the first clear documentation of the use of a compound microscope . 
