Galileo
Antony's:
predecessor who was using a double-lens microscope decades before Leeuwenhoek was born
Birth or Baptism date:
February 15, 1564
Death or Burial date:
January 8, 1642
Galileo developed and used a double-lens microscope well before Leeuwenhoek's time, certainly disproving the common claim that Leeuwenhoek "invented" the microsope. Galileo's double-lens microscope, which he began using in 1624, was modeled on his double-lens telescope, which he had been using since 1609.
We can assume that Leeuwenhoek knew well how Galileo was treated by the Catholic Church. Leeuwenhoek also perhaps noted that Galileo ran afoul of the Inquisition based on what he saw through his telescope, not through his microscope. Nothing Leeuwenhoek saw contradicted anything in the Bible.
