What will you not find on this web?
As of mid-2014, Lens on Leeuwenhoek has little information about Leeuwenhoek's scientific career, the glasses, the specimens, the observations, the letters, all the things that made him famous. If you are interested in such things, the Bibliography is your best bet. Many of the items are available online. Almost all the rest are on my hard drive or bookshelf. Use the contact page to let me know if you have trouble finding something.
You will also not find the next level of research into Leeuwenhoek's life and times.
- Baptism and burial records are incomplete.
The people profiles have too many blanks and question marks.
- Real estate transaction records are incomplete.
We know who owned some of this property, but not who lived there or how much rent they paid. There is little information about sale prices and mortgages.
- Basic facts are unknown.
For example, how many children did Leeuwenhoek have? How long did he keep his draper's shop open? Was it even a draper's shop or would some other description be more accurate?
- While diligent archivists and researchers have scoured the archives for information about Leeuwenhoek, they often did not look for information about his family.
On his father's side, Uncle Huijch and his granddaughter Elizabeth Maertens look especially promising. On his mother's side, two matriarchs presided over the family home on the Koornmarkt for almost a century, from Neeltje Jans Hoogenhouck's marriage in 1565 until the death of her daughter Aeltje Sebastiaans van den Berch in 1649.
In short, the archives still have much to tell us about the lives of Leeuwenhoek and his family, friends, co-workers, and scientific colleagues.
