A microscope is an instrument that magnifies an object. ... A specimen that is right-side up and facing right on the microscope slide will appear upside-down and facing left when viewed through a microscope, and vice versa.
The advantage of light microscopes (and stereomicroscopes in particular) is that objects can be looked at with little or no preparation. This makes them very useful for looking at living things, such as flower parts, insects, earthworms and human skin.
