BIC Museum of Microscopy – Olympus

Olympus

Olympus was established in 1919 by Mr. Takeshi Yamashita in Tokyo, Japan. From the very beginning, the company specialized in microscopes. The first corporate name was “Takachiho Seisakusho“. In Japanese mythology, it is said that eight million gods and goddesses live in Takamagahara, the peak of Mt.Takachiho. The name “Olympus” was selected (in 1921) as the trademark because Mt.Olympus, like Mt.Takachiho, was the home of gods and goddesses. This trademark is also imbued with the aspiration of Olympus to illuminate the world with its optical devices, just like Takamagahara brought light to the world.

We have four Olympus microscopes in our collection. The model GB (model year 1949; shown below in the first row, left photo). The unknown model of an inverted microscope (shown below in the first row, right photo). The inverted microscope model CK (model year 1966; shown below in the second row, right photo) and its successor, model CK-2 (late 70-ies – early 80-ies, shown below in the second row, left photo).