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A light microscope (LM) is an instrument that uses visible light and magnifying lenses to examine small objects not visible to the naked eye, or in finer detail than the naked eye allows. Magnification, however, is not the most important issue in microscopy. Mere magnification without added detail is scientifically useless, just as endlessly enlarging a small photograph may not reveal any more detail, but only larger blurs. The usefulness of any microscope is that it produces better resolution than the eye. Resolution is the ability to distinguish two objects as separate entities, rather than seeing them blurred together as a single smudge. The history of microscopy has revolved largely around technological advances that have produced better resolution.