At the auction on Saturday they had several kinds of microscope, and I mentioned in passing to Lloyd that I wouldn’t mind having one for my home laboratory use classroom. I needed one with very few bells and whistles, and that would be pretty much indestructible. I pointed out a whole table chock full of microscopes that looked like they were as sturdy as horseshoes for a plow team. “Some of those, if they go cheap.”
Turns out I had him bid on the Brock Magiscope, an practically indestructible classroom microscope. This thing is amazing! It has a Lumarod – a bent acrylic tube that funnels light. No need for bulbs, batteries or plug-in power – just light! It’s built like a tank, and has only one moving part – the eyepiece goes up and down, that’s it. Plus, the lens is safely shrouded by a collar on the bottom so it’s practically impossible to break.
I was writing this post and decided to link to their website, and I found out these things sell for over a hundred dollars new! (It’s worth reading the story of the inventor, if you have time.) I’m so happy we bought three – one for the school agers, one for the preschoolers….. and yes, one for home.
Preschoolers, we are gonna have some fun.
Cool! I wonder what other scientific instruments could be made indestructible? Wouldn’t it be awesome if your kids could play with a super-durable MRI machine?
It wouldn’t work, the metal bands that we use for tracking purposes would become super heated, and we’d lose the data that they contain.
That thing looks cool…it looks old-timey, yet it isn’t. And great story on the inventor…I love stories like that!
Why did the germ cross the magiscope?
Because he thought he was playing with a super-durable MRI machine.
It was stapled to the amoeba?
Good answers, but no:
Why did the germ cross the magiscope?
To get to the other slide! HA!
How did the hairs look in the magiscope?
Good! I tried to take a photo but I couldn’t line up the lenses, then I got mad. I have so little patience….