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Microscope

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probably made in Edinburgh

Microscope
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This brass microscope was made between 1823 and 1829 by Alexander Adie (1775-1858), a scientific instrument maker based in Edinburgh. The earliest known polarising microscope, it was ordered from Adie in 1823 by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

The microscope's body tube is engraved 'Adie /EDINBURGH'. It screws into the top of the stand which has a folding tripod foot engraved 'ROYAL SOCIETY EDINBURGH'.

By the time the instrument was delivered to the Royal Society in 1829, the cumbersome polarising apparatus had been rendered obsolete by the convenient Nicol prism, invented by the Edinburgh geologist William Nicol (1768-1851).

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