Final answer:
The invention closely associated with the microscope is the telescope. Both the microscope and the telescope were developed around the same time, expanded human visual capabilities, and share a common history in lens technology.
Step-by-step explanation:
The invention that is closely associated with the microscope is the telescope. The compound microscope, developed through the experimentation with lenses by Dutch spectacle makers Zacharias Janssen and his son Hans, shares significant technological and conceptual similarities with the telescope.
Not only did these technologies arise around the same time, but they both greatly enhanced our visual capabilities – the telescope by allowing us to see distant objects and the microscope by enabling us to observe items too small for the eye.
The association between the microscope and the telescope is evident from historical records that often refer to the Janssens as potentially inventing both instruments. Their innovative use of lens technology paved the way for future discoveries and improvements in optical instruments.
The advancements in microscopy expanded human understanding immensely, particularly in fields such as biology, and helped to open a new window into the microscopic world, with Anton van Leeuwenhoek making significant discoveries such as microorganisms.
Famous figures in science like Galileo Galilei also contributed to the development of these instruments, utilizing the compound microscope to investigate insect parts. Over the centuries, microscopy has evolved, from Joseph Jackson Lister refining the light microscope in 1830 to advanced nonvisible light microscopes of the 20th century, such as fluorescence and electron microscopes, leading to unprecedented advances in research.