In the latter half of the Victorian Age (1837–1901) microscopy was introduced as popular past-time. Many books were published aimed at general audiences, both adult and juvenile, on microscopy. Here I consider 5 of these popular books of particular interest to protistologists as they included presentations of ‘infusoria’ or ‘animalcules’. I focus on the scientific backgrounds of the authors, from what we know of them, and the approaches taken to engage the reader based on their texts and illustrations. The possible lesson to be drawn from this exercise concerns our oft-mandated efforts in “Outreach”. The methods used by 19th century popularizes of the ‘wonders of the microscopic world’ can likely be used today. They appealed to the imagination, to empowerment, and gave very practical instructions on how to see the invisible. I conclude that we should likely target the very young and describe our organisms with the enthusiasm that brought us to Protistology to begin with, but which we often conceal.

在维多利亚时代的后半段（1837年至1901年），显微镜成为了过去的流行。在显微镜下出版了许多针对成年人和青少年的普通读者的书。在这里，我认为其中有5本书是生物学家特别感兴趣的，因为其中包括“ infusoria”或“ animalcules”的介绍。我关注作者的科学背景，据我们所知的知识以及根据他们的文字和插图吸引读者的方法。从此练习中可能得到的教训涉及我们在“外展”方面经常需要进行的努力。19世纪使用的方法广泛推广了“微观世界的奇观”。他们呼吁人们发挥想象力，增强他们的能力，并就如何看清隐形人给出了非常实际的指导。