Microscope slides were – and in many fields still are – central to the production and dissemination of knowledge in the life sciences. In the late nineteenth century collections of slides held by universities, medical schools and natural history museums were crucial depositories of scientific knowledge and major pedagogic tools, while the circulation of slides was critical to the homogenisation of knowledge and the construction of scientific communities. However, few historians were interested in the role of microscope slides in the material and cognitive cultures of biology and medicine. There is growing body of studies dedicated to the history of optical instruments, of lenses and microscopes, but much less is known about multiple uses of microscope preparations. Microscope Slides
