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Manu Prakash's frugal science, including his $1 microscope, the Foldscope | Stanford Medicine

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As part of his quest to make science tools available to everyone, everywhere, Manu Prakash has invented a $1 microscope, a $5 chemistry set and a 20-cent centrifuge. His next goal? Creating a $100 scanning electron microscope.

Standing at the lectern in a darkened auditorium, Stanford bioengineering professor Manu Prakash told his audience that he was going to demonstrate a few low-cost scientific instruments that had been developed in his lab. He looked more like a graduate student than a professor, with his untamed hair and rumpled down jacket, as he reached into his backpack and pulled out what looked like a colorful paper bookmark.“This is the Foldscope,” he said, “a microscope made from 97 cents of materials.” He pointed to a tiny spherical lens at the center, and told them that they could look through it and s

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