A magnifying glass (called a hand lens in laboratory contexts) is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle (see image).
A sheet magnifier consists of many very narrow concentric ring-shaped lenses, such that the combination acts as a single lens but is much thinner. This arrangement is known as a Fresnel lens.
The magnifying glass is an icon of detective fiction, particularly that of Sherlock Holmes.
Read more about Magnifying Glass: History, Magnification, Alternatives
Famous quotes containing the words magnifying and/or glass:
“Whilst we want cities as the centres where the best things are found, cities degrade us by magnifying trifles.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Thou didst create the night, but I made the lamp.
Thou didst create clay, but I made the cup.
Thou didst create the deserts, mountains and forests,
I produced the orchards, gardens and groves.
It is I who made the glass out of stone,
And it is I who turn a poison into an antidote.”
—Muhammad, Sir Iqbal (1873–1938)