??Microscopy??

Microscopy has a long and intriguing history. In 1590 the predecessor to the compound microscope was created by a pair of eyeglass makers. Then, in 1665, Robert Hooke observed the first cell structures in a piece of cork. Later, in 1674 von Leeuwenhoek built the first simple microscope, mainly for examining biological specimens. It wasn't until the 1930s, however that we had the ability to see atoms with the electron microscope. This microscope has changed many of the ideas formulated in the scientific world and has shaped much of the knowledge of today.

This microscope is in stark contrast to the microscopes of today used by scientists. They have developed in opposition to computers. The better the microscope, the larger the size, whereas computers have shrunk with computing power. It is also ironic that the smaller the object to be viewed, the larger the microscope must be.

The only problem with scanning electron microscopes and transmission electron microscopes is that the specimen must be dead in order to view it. In one case, the specimen is coated with gold and the other requires a slice of the specimen. This is incredibly unfortunate, however, the scientific discoveries since their invention have been fascinating. One very interesting subject is that of human biology. With electron microscopes we have been able to view different cells of the body. We can know say with certainty that the human nerve cell has an axon and body. We know about the organelles within our cells. Microscopic evolution has led to many advancements in the study of disease as well.

During the anthrax scares after 9/11, scientists from the CDC used powerful microscopes to study the bacteria. Without these microscopes, the world would have never known that these bacteria had been scientifically manipulated to contain silicone and be especially resilient. We also would have never known the true maliciousness behind the attacks, the attacker was truly using bioweapons to their fullest.

Besides their ability to detect vicious diseases, microscopes hold a bright future in the world of science. Their improvements in the future may help to lay the path for the next generation of scientific textbooks. I am personally thrilled to hear about a new discovery resulting from microscopic images, because it is those discoveries over the past few hundreds of years that have fueled the science of biology. And who in their right mind wouldn't want to learn some bio? :)