1667: Robert Hooke 's famous Micrographia is published, which outlines Hooke's various studies using the microscope. 1675: Enter Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who used a microscope with one lens to observe insects and other specimen. Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe bacteria. 18th century: As technology improved, microscopy became more popular among scientists. Part of this was due to the discovery that combining two types of glass reduced the chromatic effect.