Benjamin Martin
1704 - 1782
Benjamin Martin was an eighteenth-century English instrument maker, especially known for his lens-based devices. He had a significant influence on the development of the microscope and optical instruments in general. Martin was born in 1704 and started his career as a schoolmaster and also published books on mathematics and microscopy. He eventually opened a scientific instruments shop on Fleet Street in London where he developed his numerous microscope designs.
John R. Millburn, ‘Martin, Benjamin (bap. 1705, d. 1782)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18175, accessed 2 March 2015]