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Inverted Compound Microscope
The inverted compound microscope is designed with the light source and the "condenser" lens above the specimen. What makes the inverted microscope useful is the ability to maintain a more natural environment for the specimen, thus, extending its life. The viewing of valuable life processes can be researched longer. This is its major advantage over a compound light microscope. The specimen may be kept in the microaquarium for viewing instead of on a slide. In a larger container would naturally be less evaporation. This is not possible when a thin specimen is placed under a cover slip on a slide where evaporation happens too quickly. On a conventional slide-cover slip preparation, you may not get all the different organisms in a sample and the stress caused by manipulation and evaporation can kill sensitive organisms.

A single drop of pond water shows a diversity of life and it’s interaction on a microscopic level. The ability to observe living specimens with this microscope has added greatly to the knowledge in molecular and cellular biology. The living specimen can also be observed over a longer period of time to study behavior and interactions with other organisms.

Inverted and upright microscopes are compound microscopes. In the inverted microscope the objective lens is below the specimen, thus allowing observattion of organisms on the bottom of the container. Compare the paths of light: