Origins and historical development of the electron microscope

The history of the electron microscope is traced from the earliest speculations on the possibility of a new type of microscope, whose performance would not be limited by the wavelength of light, to its successful realization in the form of an electron microscope that could be made readily available to physicists and biologists. The historical development did not follow the smooth, predictable course that a student of physics might have hoped for. Concepts, such as the formation of an image by electrons, that are taken for granted today did not come easily to the pioneers of the subject.