"The Microscope" suggests that innovation requires genius, and that a genius is rarely understood by his contemporaries. It was necessary for Anton Leeuwenhoek to neglect the quotidian details of his life as a shopkeeper (his "dry goods gathered dust") to pursue his passion for devising a machine that would enable him to examine the unseen, minute details of the natural world. Innovators are not understood or appreciated until their efforts are proven to be of use; in fact, the speaker observes that Anton was called "dumpkof" by those unimaginative observers who were more interested in the practicalities of life: "pincushions, cloth, and such." These manufactured, prosaic items contrast with the exoticism of Nature's "mosquitoes’ wings" and "spiders’ spinning gear." The irony is that his work led him to be considered a pioneer of the very practical science of microbiology.
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