MICSCAPE plus Micscape Lite
(ISSN 1365 - 070x)

Exploring the miniature world

Issue 206: December 2012.
Next update January 13th.

Image left: A  surgeon using the Zeiss Opmi 1, the first operating microscope.
Detail of an image from Fritz Schulze's article and courtesy of Zeiss.

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Issue 206 - December 2012 : Articles this month

Micscape Contacts
Micscape Editor:
David Walker
Comments on Micscape and
contributions welcomed.

Micscape submission guidelines .

Microscopy-UK
parent site coordinator:
Maurice Smith

How the humble stereomicroscope found its way into modern surgery: The Zeiss operating microscope. Part 1 - Fritz Schulze (Canada), a retired Senior Product Specialist with the Medical Division of Zeiss Canada, shares a detailed and illustrated survey of the history of this key instrument. (In Acrobat pdf format.)

Maurice Stiassnie. An unrecognized French microscope maker. Heir and descendant of XIX Century microscope manufacturers - Alain Berjonval (France) presents an illustrated summary of this lesser known maker.
Flight stability in flies - Anthony Thomas (Canada) describes and illustrates the halteres that are used in flight. (In Acrobat pdf format.)
A glass "cup" sponge. Part 1 - Richard Howey (USA) shares an illustrated essay on this fascinating organism.

A close up view of a 'Bleeding Heart' cultivar - Brian Johnston (Canada) explores this attractive plant on the macro and microscopic scale.

The familiar - and not so familiar - W. A. Firth: his life and times in Belfast - Peter Paisley (Australia) discusses and illustrates the work of this famous diatomist including his non-diatom preparations. (In docx format.)

Micscape Lite - microscopy enthusiasts sharing lighter hearted articles and their other interests.
Contributions welcomed.

In the dollhouse. The microscopes of the land of Lilliput - Manuel del Cerro (USA) and Dietmar R Krause (USA) take a look at this for too long overlooked genre of microscopes.

The complete guide to independent film production: Small budget - Big movies. Part 1. Introduction & Equipment. Camera, Lens, Sound Recorder  - Mol Smith (UK) the site co-founder, has spent the last year making a full length feature film on a very tight budget and also 4 'shorts' using a consumer digital SLR. He shares his hard learnt lessons in this multi-part series.

A passion for radio. Part 1 - Ian Walker (UK), a retired BBC field engineer, shares illustrated anecdotes of his experiences helping to run and maintain the UK's highest power radio transmitters in all weathers in northern England when the equipment was analogue and transmitter halls looked like cathedrals to electronics.

Mrs Malaprop goes Christmas shopping - Richard Howey (USA) shares an essay on how this lady may have tackled shopping for her microscopy friends.
The "Den". Blissful sanctuaries - Paul James (UK) describes his compact and out of the way setup for microscopy; an area formerly used as a darkroom and the benefits of a dedicated work area.
Comparing the depth of field of two types of flatbed scanner, a CIS and a CCD model - two common type of scanners are compared by David Walker (UK) to illustrate that the correct choice is important if some depth of field is required. Bonus article added Dec. 27th.

The appeal of slide rules - in use and as collectables - David Walker (UK) shares his enthusiasm for these 'analogue computers' with an illustrated selection of the simplest to most complex and argues the case for an analogue revival. Updated Dec. 25th with 2 extra examples.

    In Focus: 'Fundamentals of Light Microscopy and Electronic Imaging' by Douglas B Murphy and Michael W Davidson, Wiley-Blackwell, October 2012. The second edition of this highly regarded book has been published. A superbly presented and illustrated hardback, 538 pages.

     

We are delighted to receive contributions small or large from microscopy enthusiasts whether a novice or expert. If you have an image, tip or article, why not share it, this magazine is what you make it! Have a chat with us , to see how we can help share your interests. Submission guidelines .

Archive
Look for that elusive article on our site:
Micscape Magazine past issues online (read articles online using the original illustrated index for each month).
Article Library (browse articles by category)
Automated Search (a search engine for keyword searches in all articles)
Contributor index (a list of all Micscape contributors to date)
News - special notices - misc.

 

External links. Below are some of our favourites, which includes sites with extensive links and/or resources for the optical microscopy enthusiast.

External Microscopy forums:
Places to discuss the hobby or to raise queries.

www.photomacrography.net forums, galleries, articles on macroscopy and photomicrography.

www.quekett.net/forum/index.php forum for both Quekett Microscopical Club members and other enthusiasts.

Newsgroups
sci.techniques.microscopy (spoilt by excessive spam nowadays)

Yahoo groups: a ' P' denotes current and archived messages are public i.e. not limited to members.
 'Amateur Microscopy' P (started November2008)
'Yahoo Diatom Forum' P
' Microscope 'P (>1500 members, very active)
' Microscopes '
'Microscopehobby' P (started Apr 2005)
'RealMicroscopy' P (started Sep 2005)
' Óptica Roma foro Microscopía' for Spanish speakers
' Wild M20 microscope '
' Nikon Coolpix photomicro and macrophoto '
' microcosmo ' ( for Italian speaking enthusiasts)
' CombineZ ' P stacking software forum created by the software's author

Mikroskopie-Treff.de (Extensive German microscopy forum; some English categories.)
 Mikrobiologische Vereinigung München e. V. W ide range of articles and resources in German.
 Le Naturaliste French based forum and image gallery for micro / macro but open to non French speaking international contributors.

Other sites
Clubs / Socs (Pro/Am) Mic-UK links page
Light Microscopy Forum links and articles
 Little Imp Publications public domain books on CD. (Hosted by Savona Books).
 Mikroskop Museum German website with resources on microscopes / makers .
Molecular Expressions awesome optical microscopy resources
Dennis Kunkel's SEM images stunning images
Diatoms Ireland - resource site by Leszek Wolnik
 Leitz museum an illustrated resource compiled by Robert Allen
Microbe hunter a free monthly microscopy enthusiast magazine edited by Oliver Kim
Microscopies online magazine and Forum for French speakers
Micrographia articles, projects for the enthusiast
Microscopy Today paper journal with online archive
Modern Microscopy online journal by McCrone Group
Fun Science Gallery projects, articles on optics
G. Couger's microscopy links extensive links
Society for Amateur Scientists resources and support
 A Cabinet of Curiosities a resource on Victorian microscope slides by Howard Lynk
 www.viewsfromscience.com projects e.g. chilled stage for crystal growth studies and LED fluorescence
'Diatoms Ireland' resource by Leszek Wolnik
Historical makers of microscopes and microscope slides Brian Stevenson's extensive resource on Victorian slide makers
 Cambridge rocking microtome resources including manual

Web rings
Lightscapes polarised light macroscopy/microscopy, both artistic and scientific.

 

Microscopy-UK and Micscape - established 1995
Micscape is a free magazine for enthusiasts funded by Microscopy-UK and dedicated to non-commercial microscopy.
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