Final answer:
The probable inventor of the compound microscope is Robert Hooke. Some argue that the Dutch spectacle-makers Hans and Zaccharias Janssen might have invented the compound microscope, but little is known about them.
Step-by-step explanation:
The probable inventor of the compound microscope is Robert Hooke.
While Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Hooke are often credited with early advances in microscopy, neither can claim to be the inventor of the microscope. Some argue that the Dutch spectacle-makers Hans and Zaccharias Janssen might have invented the compound microscope during the late 1500s or early 1600s. However, little is known for sure about the Janssens, and any archived records have been lost over the centuries.