Seeing beyond light: The beginning of electron microscopy in Spain through its first electron microscope (1941-1961).

Abstract

In 1947, the first electron microscope in Spain was installed at the Instituto de Óptica Daza de Valdés(IO-CSIC): an EMU-2A model from the U.S. company RCA. That instrument became what has been called a "frontier instrument, inventor of disciplines"; in this case, electron microscopy. This article analyses the activities of the IO around the microscope, between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the 1960s. During this time, the Instituto de Óptica was the institution, not the exclusive, but the main promoter of creating a new epistemic community in Spain dedicated to electron microscopy. In this paper, we will focus on analyzing the actors of this development: who they were, how they were formed, and their main motivations.