Stereomicroscope

Basic characteristic
Stereomicroscope (binocular magnifier - "binocular", dissection microscope) is a kind of light microscope, which is used to observe the sample with different magnification in 3D dimension. Unlike a normal microscope, a stereomicroscope uses lower magnification and longer working distances. It consists of two separate microscopes, one for the right and one for the left eye. Characteristic of this microscope are two separate light beams that lead to the observer's eye, one to each. Each eye creates a separate image of an object, but the brain evaluates these different images as a whole. This microscope is characterized by a long working distance and a large depth of field, while in general the higher the magnification, the shallower the depth of field.

History
One of the first stereomicroscopes was built at the beginning of the 19th century by Charles Wheatstone, who also described the principle of how the microscope works. This research aroused great interest in the world, and in the middle of the 19th century 'Francis H. Wenham built the first stereomicroscope with one objective and two eyepieces. However, even that did not achieve a true three-dimensional effect. It wasn't until 1957 that the American inventor Horatio S. Greenough built a breakthrough stereomicroscope, which is the forerunner of today's. The previously used brass was replaced by aluminum and was supplemented with an inverted prism that allowed a direct image. Nowadays, it is mainly characterized by high-contrast images with a minimum of reflections and geometric distortions.