Abstract (eng)
Selected microscopes and telescopes of the historical physics collection of the University of Vienna are described and experimentally tested. Additionally, some optical basics are described. The three microscopes by Simon Plössl (before 1850) examined prove to be quite functional and provide surprisingly good images, except for the horizontal microscope, where the image quality suffers due to a corroded concave mirror. The dialytic telescope of Plössl with the engraving 1832 has a clouded objective lens, therefore it delivers only indistinct images. In contrast, the comet finder by "Utzschneider Reichenbach and Fraunhofer in Benedictbeurn" (ca. 1820) still provides good images. Three older microscopes from Reichert-Austria (around 1900, one acquired in 1929) and one from Carl Zeiss (around 1900) still work quite well, except that some eyepieces and objectives are missing or have been interchanged. If magnifications are not given, they are estimated. Three microscopes from Reichert-Austria from the period 1950 to 1962 prove to be quite functional, although the accessories are not quite complete or show slight defects. This is especially true for the stereo microscope from 1962. A Fraunhofer microscope and a Fraunhofer micrometer (both acquired in 1912) with a resolution of approx. 1 µm and 2 µm as well as a dividing machine (around 1890) with a resolution of 0,01 mm are interestingly constructed. Furthermore, a terrestrial telescope by Lenoir & Forster (around 1900) and four different reading telescopes (three around 1900, one acquired in 1856) are examined.