MICSCAPE - Exploring the miniature world

Issue 223 - July 2014 : Articles this month       (ISSN 1365 - 070x)      Bimonthly, next issue September 13th.



SEM image of the diatom Gyrosigma tenuissimum by Myriam de Haan.

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Micscape Editor:
David Walker

Microscopy-UK
parent site coordinator:
Maurice Smith

Please do not contact the above for image permissions. Each article contributor retains the copyright to their material so should be contacted directly via the link in the relevant article. Thank you.

Comments on Micscape and contributions welcomed.
Contributions: A
ny modern format welcomed i.e. pdf. doc/docx with embedded images, or html + jpegs.

 

 

A lucky break. How past vandalism favoured modern diatom research - Frithjof A.S. Sterrenburg (Netherlands), Myriam de Haan (Belgium) and Wulf E. Herwig (Germany) DOCX

A tribute to Brian Johnston - Richard Howey (USA)
Cross-eyed 3D microscope image gallery. Part 1 - Mol Smith (UK)

Leitz Panphot instruction book - a high quality scan of a heavily illustrated  handbook for a classic microscope - Mol Smith (UK)

Back to the future. Part 1. Volvox - Mol Smith (UK)

From the archives I: Theme - a selection of classic microscopes. See Library for subject categories and Past Issues to read complete past issues or use the Find button above to browse keywords.

The Zeiss Photomicroscope I - Paul James (UK)

The Cycloptic® AO (American optical) CMO stereo microscope - R Jordan Kreindler (USA) PDF

The Wild M20 microscope - a look at a quality Swiss instrument from the 1950's - Paul James (UK)

The excellent Leitz microscopes with black enamel finish - Ortholux, Orthoplan, Dialux, Laborlux, Labolux and SM models. Gregor Overney (USA).

A compilation of LOMO microscope resources on Micscape - multiple authors

Comparison of the Swift FM-31 Portable Field Microscope and an FM-31 Clone - R Jordan Kreindler (USA) and Yuvan Goren (Israel) PDF

J Swift & Son Ltd model P polarizing microscope. Notes on its restoration and a personal review - Ian Walker (UK)

The best 'affordable' petrographic microscopes of the 1970s to 1980s - J. Gregory McHone (Canada)

Eight petrographic and student polar microscopes from the golden years - J. Gregory McHone (Canada)

Watson Microsystem 70, a review - Ian Walker (UK)

A tour round a Zeiss Photomicroscope III - David Walker (UK)

A tour round a Leitz Diaplan - David Walker (UK)

In Focus: Resources on Antoni van Leeuwenhoek's life and work.
'The Collected Letters of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek' ('Alle de Brieven ..') - volumes 1-15 of the books now transcribed and available free online.
The Netherlands based project to offer both modern Dutch and English translations of these letters with extensive footnotes by experts and high quality copies of the original illustrations will be well known to those interested in the history of microscopy. Starting in 1939, carrying on through World War II, with
volume 16 published in 2014 and volume 17 for 2015 (of the planned 19), it is a monumental piece of work.
A digitised set of the letters (Dutch/English) and illustrations from volumes 1-15 are now freely available at
www.dbnl.org (De Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren / The Digital Library of Dutch Literature) to view online or download as pdf files. A search function and extensive secondary literature is also available. 

Thank you to Douglas Anderson's splendid Lens on Leeuwenhoek website for drawing attention to these; this is an important development in digital resources offered on the history of microscopy. The DBNL in turn deserve hearty congratulations on completing their own daunting task of transcribing the works so effectively.

The modern translations of the 'Collected Letters' are complemented by the letters which were published in whole or in part in Philosophical Transactions and freely accessible on The Royal Society's website since 2011. (The 'Lens on Leeuwenhoek' website carefully cross references these with the latest 'Collected Letters' resource.) Very high quality scans of the original plates and text in contemporary Latin editions e.g. 'Opera Omnia' (1722) are also available e.g. on the ECHO website.

An accessible overview to Leeuwenhoek's letters are Hoole's (ca. 1800) 'Select Works ...' available free online at www.archive.org or as modern print facsimiles in 2 vols. (both sadly without full scans of Hoole's plates as copies of the original book are extremely rare ... and expensive).

'Still going strong: Leeuwenhoek at eighty' a fascinating paper by Douglas Anderson in the July 2014 edition of the 'Antonie van Leeuwenhoek' journal to celebrate the journal's eightieth publication year. Full version freely downloadable and assesses Antoni van Leeuwenhoek's private, public and scientific life and work when he was aged eighty.

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National Institute of General Medical Sciences "Life Magnified" Online - an attractive online gallery of false colour SEM imagery from the life sciences with notes. This complements a '2014 exhibit at Dulles International Airport'. Thank you to David Goldstein for drawing attention to the site.

 

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!

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.

Yahoo groups: a 'P' denotes current and archived messages are public i.e. not limited to members.
Amateur Microscopy P (started November 2008)
Yahoo Diatom Forum P
Microscope P (>1500 members, very active)
Microscopehobby
P (started Apr 2005)
Wild M20 microscope
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. Wide 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 (also see Societies and Clubs page.)
Royal Microscopy Society Journal, 'infocus' and other resources for members and the community.
Quekett Microscopical Club Journal, Bulletin and meetings for members.
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
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
Lens On Leeuwenhoek - extensive resource online by Douglas Anderson
Collected Letters of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek ('Alle de Brieven ..') transcribed and free online at DBNL.
A Cabinet of Curiosities a resource on Victorian microscope slides by Howard Lynk
www.viewsfromscience.com projects by Ely Silk 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 .
Victorian slide makers
Cambridge rocking microtome resources including manual

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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