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| From the 5th of September until the end of November 2008 Shropshire under the Microscope was dedicated to all the tiny things in our collections that we don’t often get a chance to show, and you may not even be aware of, in the world around you. The first microscopes were made in the early 17th century. Robert Hooke, a 17th century English scientist, was one of the first people to use these simple microscopes and made detailed drawings of the things he saw. By comparison, microscopes today are much more accurate and show greater detail. Some can even produce an image of a single atom. Modern optical microscopes can magnify up to 2,000 times and electron microscopes up to a million times. The Museum Service’s collections number over 120,000 objects and although some are the size of a mammoth or an agricultural cart, many are only a fraction of this size. This exhibition is dedicated to all the tiny things in our collections that you may not even be aware of in the world around you. Almost all of them can be found in the landscape around you if you know where to look. When magnified they reveal the details of their structure and sometimes hidden information. We have selected 10 groups of objects from our collections which you can examine by selecting one of the catagories on the left. Butterflies and moths Beetles Other insects Molluscs Rocks and Minerals Fossils Coins Arrowheads Feathers Clay pipes | |
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