Micrographia nova
Full title
Micrographia nova: sive Nova & curiosa Variorum Minutorum corporum Singularis cujusdam & noviter ab Autore inventi Microscopii Ope Adauctorum & miranda magnitudine repraesentatorum
Full text available online at ECHO – Cultural Heritage Online.
WorldCat summary
The development of the microscope enabled seventeenth century scientists to study and describe a microcosmic world that had until then lain beyond their grasp. Johann Griendel claimed to have improved upon the design of Robert Hooke's instrument, giving it a broader field of vision. His 1687 response to Hooke's 'Micrographia' features thirty-three plates illustrating his observations. 'Micrographia Nova' invited comparison with its progenitor and was criticized by Hooke, among others, for the lesser quality of its illustrations.
Leeuwenhoek included two figures from this book in Letter 57 and Letter 58 in the summer of 1687. He followed Griendel's figures with his own, showing his more accurate observations.
As suggested by the title, this book has been described as the German counterpart to Hooke’s Micrographia (1665) because Griendel examined and pictured some of the same animals that Hooke did.
