In telescopes, lenses take things that are far away and make them appear as if they are close to us so we can see them better. In microscopes, lenses take things that are very small and magnify them so they become visible. Light microscopes are used in a number of areas such as medicine, science, and engineering. However, light microscopes can not give us the high magnifications needed to see the tiniest objects like atoms. For this, we have to use electrons rather than light.
Electrons are small particles within the atom.
Microscopes that use electrons rather than light are called electron microscopes. Since we are not using light in electron microscopes, we can not use glass for our lenses. Instead we use magnets. Magnets will make electrons bend just as glass makes light bend. These magnets let us magnify images and bring them into focus.