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Beauty Through a Microscope |
Tidbit Archive
| Small things can be beautiful. And very small things can be
very beautiful. Researchers and photographers have long recognized
the beauty that can be revealed in photographs taken through a microscope.
In recent years, the technologies of microscopy and photography have
been joined with computers and digital cameras, making it relatively easy
for amateurs to take interesting photomicrographs and for these amateurs
as well for professionals to share their work with a wide audience over
the Internet.
Among the subjects that lend themselves to photomicrography are crystals, insects, micro-organisms, animal and plant cells and their components, and (more recently) human-made objects at the micro- and nano-scale, such as silicon computer chips. All of these and more are represented among the images that can be found on the sites linked below. While optical microscopes can produce some beautiful photos, electron microscopes, capable of much higher magnification and greater depth of field yield even more striking images. To many of the researchers who work with these devices, both optical and electronic, the esthetic value of the images is probably secondary to the new knowledge they reveal, but it is hardly irrelevant. Photomicrography is yet another illustration of the complementarity of art, science, and technology. |
Links:The QX3TM Computer Microscope. This device, though marketed as a toy, is not just for kids. PC Photo magazine calls it "one of the coolest products we've seen for the computer." I heartily agree. It plugs into a USB port, takes both still pictures and video clips, features 10X, 60X and 200X lenses, and costs less than $100. I used mine to take the close-up of the front cover of Technology and the Future shown at the top of the page. (If you want to see the image in context, here's the whole cover.)
Nikon's Small World Gallery. Prize winning pictures from Nikon's Small World competition, which has been going on for 26 years. Some of these are truly spectacular.
Molecular Expressions. A huge virtual museum of photomicrographs covering a wide range of subjects. Included are galleries of DNA, dinosaur bones, cocktails, beer, DNA, -- and much more. Among the most unusual are the images in the "silicon zoo" -- microscopic pictures etched onto computer chips by engineers with a sense of humor (for example, a California license plate that appears on the microprocessor that powers many Silicon Graphics workstations).
Dennis Kunkel's Microscopy. Another collection of spectacular photos, a few of which are included in his logo, below. Also, one of the best sets of microscopy links on the web.
Crystal Apothecary. A collection of photomicrographs of pharmaceuticals and related substances by James A. Sullivan of Quill Graphics in Charlottesville, VA.
SSCI's Photomicroscopy Gallery. A few very nice photos from SSCI, Inc., a chemical research and analysis firm in West Lafayette, Indiana.
"Photographing Through a Microscope," by Trevor Anderson. A short course in photomicroscopy with a digital camera.
"Taking Pictures with Your Camera and a Microscope." A "how-to" page by Jack Ross of Microscope World, which also carries a substantial line-up of microscopes and related products.
The Imaging Technology Group at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, supports a number of educational outreach projects, including a "Web Atlas of Cellular Structures" and the "Bugscope," which makes a scanning electron microscope accessible to K-12 classrooms.
E-mail your tidbit suggestions to ateich@aaas.org.Search for more information about photomicrograpy on:
