On April 5, 2023, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies Professor Douglas Anderson will give a lecture about Dutch scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) at the Scientific Spring Meeting of the Royal Dutch Society of Microbiology and the Dutch Society of Medical Microbiology in Arnhem, The Netherlands. His lecture, “Leeuwenhoek’s Comptoire: The Workplace of a Natural Philosopher,” will discuss the location, recently revealed by Anderson’s archival research, as well as the layout of Leeuwenhoek’s house in Delft, the Gulden Hoofd (golden head) especially what Leeuwenhoek called his comptoire, where he worked. In this tiny room, Leeuwenhoek ground lenses, constructed microscopes, dissected and prepared specimens, and made mankind’s first observations of the microscopic world, especially the “little animals” that we now call protozoa and bacteria.

Professor Anderson’s lecture will follow a presentation by Jillian Banfield, the 2023 winner of the Leeuwenhoek Medal, a scientific award established in 1875 to commemorate Leeuwenhoek’s contribution to science and society. Since 2016, Anderson has served as a guest researcher in the Department of Knowledge and Art Practices at the Huygens Instituut in Amsterdam, where he is co-editor of the 20-volume Collected Letters of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and runs Lens on Leeuwenhoek, a website devoted to Leeuwenhoek’s life and accomplishments.

The model of Leeuwenhoek’s house based on Anderson’s research was made by Tijm Landouw of the University of Amsterdam’s 4D Lab using the 3D computer graphics software toolset Blender. Leeuwenhoek’s comptoire is the little room on the second floor at the front of the house.

  • : Medaille University

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