Visited by Thomas Molyneux on behalf of the Royal Society

Date: 
February 5, 1685

In early February, Leeuwenhoek was visited by Thomas Molyneux (1661-1733, portrait on right), the brother of Edmond Halley's ally William Molyneux. Thomas was at the time a student in Leiden. Dobell notes that William visited Leeuwenhoek, too, but he did not know whether they visited together. If the older, more established William had been there, it is unclear why the younger student Thomas would have written his own account. In fact, William probably visited Leeuwenhoek separately in the summer of 1685.

“Last week” places Molyneaux’s visit to Delft between Monday, 5 February 1685 and Friday, 9 February 1685 N.S.

Thomas reported his visit in a letter from Leiden dated February 13, to the secretary of the Royal Society, Francis Aston. It was read aloud at a February meeting.

His report on March 14 also included a paragraph on Leeuwenhoek.

Sources
Year Author Title
1756 Birch, T. The History of the Royal Society of London
1932 Dobell, C. Antony van Leeuwenhoek and his “little animals”