Editing Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (section)

===Recognition by the Royal Society===
After developing his method for creating powerful lenses and applying them to the study of the microscopic world,<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://atena.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=13349171&search_terms=DTL184|title=Observationes microscopicae Antonii Lewenhoeck, circa particulas liquorum globosa et animalia|series=Acta Eruditorum|year=1682|location=Leipzig|page=321}}</ref> Van Leeuwenhoek introduced his work to his friend, the prominent Dutch physician [[Reinier de Graaf]]. When the [[Royal Society]] in London published the groundbreaking work of an Italian lensmaker in their journal ''[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]'', de Graaf wrote to the editor of the journal, [[Henry Oldenburg]], with a ringing endorsement of Van Leeuwenhoek's microscopes which, he claimed, "far surpass those which we have hitherto seen". In response, in 1673 the society published a letter from Van Leeuwenhoek that included his microscopic observations on mold, bees, and lice.<ref>Dobell, pp. 37–41.</ref> Then, in 1674, Van Leeuwenhoek made his most significant discovery. Starting from the assumption that life and [[motility]] are similar, he determined that the moving objects observed under his microscope were little animals. He later recorded his observations in his diary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek  |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/historians-miscellaneous-biographies/antoni-van-leeuwenhoek |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

[[File:Antoni van Leeuwenhoek letters to the Royal Society 3.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Page in a handwritten manuscript volume|A 1677 letter from Van Leeuwenhoek to Oldenburg, with the latter's English translation behind. The full correspondence remains in the [[Royal Society]] Library in London.]]

Van Leeuwenhoek's work fully captured the attention of the Royal Society, and he began corresponding regularly with the society regarding his observations. At first he had been reluctant to publicize his findings, regarding himself as a businessman with little scientific, artistic, or writing background, but de Graaf urged him to be more confident in his work.<ref>Dobell, pp. 41–42.</ref> By the time Van Leeuwenhoek died in 1723, he had written some 190 letters to the Royal Society, detailing his findings in a wide variety of fields, centered on his work in microscopy. He only wrote letters in his own colloquial Dutch; he never published a proper scientific paper in Latin. He strongly preferred to work alone, distrusting the sincerity of those who offered their assistance.<ref>Dobell, pp. 43–44.</ref> The letters were translated into Latin or English by Henry Oldenburg, who had learned Dutch for this very purpose.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} He was also the first to use the word ''[[animalcules]]'' to translate the Dutch words that Leeuwenhoek used to describe microorganisms.<ref name=lens/> Despite the initial success of Van Leeuwenhoek's relationship with the Royal Society, soon relations became severely strained. His credibility was questioned when he sent the Royal Society a copy of his first observations of microscopic single-celled organisms dated 9 October 1676.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Douglas|title=Wrote Letter 18 of 1676-10-09 (AB 26) to Henry Oldenburg |url= http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/content/wrote-letter-18-1676-10-09-ab-26-henry-oldenburg |website=Lens on Leeuwenhoek |access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> Previously, the existence of single-celled organisms was entirely unknown. Thus, even with his established reputation with the Royal Society as a reliable observer, his observations of microscopic life were initially met with some skepticism.<ref name="NickLane_RS">{{cite journal |author-link=Nick Lane |last=Lane |first=Nick |title=The Unseen World: Reflections on Leeuwenhoek (1677) 'Concerning Little Animal' |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=370 |issue=1666 |pages=20140344 |date=6 March 2015 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2014.0344 |pmid=25750239 |pmc=4360124 }}</ref>

[[File:Acta Eruditorum - XVIII zoologia, 1682 – BEIC 13349171.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration of critique of ''Observationes microscopicae Antonii Levvenhoeck...'' published in ''[[Acta Eruditorum]]'', 1682 ]]

Eventually, in the face of Van Leeuwenhoek's insistence, the Royal Society arranged for Alexander Petrie, minister to the English Reformed Church in Delft; Benedict Haan, at that time Lutheran minister at Delft; and Henrik Cordes, then Lutheran minister at the Hague, accompanied by [[Sir Robert Gordon, 3rd Baronet|Sir Robert Gordon]] and four others, to determine whether it was in fact Van Leeuwenhoek's ability to observe and reason clearly, or perhaps, the Royal Society's theories of life that might require reform. Finally in 1677,<ref>Schierbeek, A.: "The Disbelief of the Royal Society". ''Measuring the Invisible World''. London and New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1959. n.p. Print.</ref> Van Leeuwenhoek's observations were fully acknowledged by the Royal Society.<ref>[http://recall.archive.org/stream/antonyvanleeuwen00dobe/antonyvanleeuwen00dobe_djvu.txt Full text of "Antony van Leeuwenhoek and his "Little animals"; being some account of the father of protozoology and bacteriology and his multifarious discoveries in these disciplines;"]. Recall.archive.org. accessed 20 April 2013.</ref>

Van Leeuwenhoek was elected to the Royal Society in February 1680 on the nomination of [[William Croone]], a then-prominent physician.{{#tag:ref|He was also nominated as a "corresponding member" of the [[French Academy of Sciences]] in 1699, but there is no evidence that the nomination was accepted, nor that he was ever aware of it.<ref>Dobell, pp. 53–54.</ref>|group="note"}} Van Leeuwenhoek was "taken aback" by the nomination, which he considered a high honour, although he did not attend the induction ceremony in London, nor did he ever attend a Royal Society meeting.<ref>Dobell, pp. 46–50.</ref> He had his portrait painted by [[Jan Verkolje]] with the certificate signed by [[James II of England]] on the table beside him.