In the good old days, when microscopists wanted to show others what they had found, they either drew by hand what they saw or hired someone to do same. Besides manual dexterity, and eye-hand coordination, drawing of course requires artistic interpretation, i.e. at least a smidgen of imagination. As a result one always had to be concerned with the objectively of rendering. Such concerns were more or less put to rest once the proper use of photography became established. The manual dexterity was reduced to twisting the focus knob, squeezing the shutter button without also shaking the camera and doing some handwaving in the dark room (artistic interpretation), surprisingly all non-trivial operations.

Today we have entered a different phase yet in the process of sharing morphological information, a phase characterized by digital recording and along with it, digital image processing. The digits now are not literally fingers anymore, but the numbers they stand for Digital image recording and processing was originally devised to improve the quality of images returned by spacecraft and used to require highly sophisticated computing facilities.

There remains two basic axioms of all microscopists: the first….if you look, you're bound to see something, and the second….not everything you will see is artifact. These axioms apply particularly well to scanning probe microscopy at the molecular and atomic level. Fortunately, coarser resolution images share comforting similarities with images from other established scanning methods. Holes in optical discs look like holes when probed with AFM tips, and these holes look very much like SEM images, a subject with which we have some familiarity. At the molecular and atomic level, however, the scanning probe instruments may or may not be “seeing” the sample, though they are clearly seeing something.

Comparison of surface structure observed with indirect surface structural measurements, for example by LEED (Low Energy Electron Diffraction) or RHEED (Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction) usually under ultra-high vacuum conditions can lead, by inference, to an understanding of the real bulk or average surface structure.

What is industrial mineral microscopy? It is the application of any micro-analytical technique used to characterize and identify non-metallic and non-fuel earth materials. Humans have used industrial minerals since ancient times. The earliest known scientific work which dealt expressly with minerals and artificial products derived from them is Theophrastus On Stones. Theophrastus, a pupil and friend of Aristotle, described the use of fuller's earth and gypsum for whitening discolored cloth garments in the latter half of the 4th century, B.C. Fuller's earth is still used today as a decolorizing agent by manufacturers of oil and fat products. Gypsum, of course, is widely used in plaster of paris, cement, and paper.

Today, industrial minerals are encountered often by people in everyday life. Electronic, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, construction, paper, and plastics industries use industrial minerals in a multitude of products.

While many of us have used a computer network to send E-mail, how about using it to remotely control an electron microscope? That's exactly what Telemicroscopy refers to.

Up to now electron microscopy (EM) has been conducted typically in a darkened enclosure, with the operator sitting in the dark for hours staring at a dim phosphor screen. This paradigm was not, however, closely followed during the telemicroscopy demonstration at the SIGGRAPH 1992 meeting in Chicago, where microscopic images were acquired on-line over the Internet high-speed computer network from the intermediate-high voltage electron microscope located at the San Diego Microscopy and Imaging Resource. Stereo-pairs were displayed on a color projection screen in front of many spectators and camera crews.

The electron microscope facility at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC), at the University of North Carolina, is a world leader in the analysis and visualization of DNA- and RNA-protein complexes. Established by Dr. Jack Griffith in 1978, the facility houses the only laboratory in the U.S. specifically dedicated to visualizing DNA- and RNA-protein interactions and is frequently called upon by research institutions and organizations to provide breakthrough scientific findings. For instance, Dr. Griffith, in collaboration with Dr. Paul Englund at John Hopkins University, was the first to visualize DNA molecules with unusual curvatures; and, working with Dr. Mark Ptashne and Dr. Tom Maniatis at Harvard, was the first to visualize the looping of DNA and splicesomes. Presently, the lab is working with Nobel Prize winner Dr. Arthur Kornberg at Stanford University to understand how DNA replicates.

According to Dr. Griffith, LCCC's electron microscopy system is part of a unique scientific approach to studying DNA- and RNA-protein complexes. The approach integrates electron microscopy with conventional molecular biologic and biochemical research methods.

I've been selling high tech products for about 20 years and I've never quite gotten over the fear of the phrase: “I'd like to go to the plant for a demo.”

As many of us have said in the past, there's no such thing as a good demo, only one which didn't disintegrate beyond all recognition. Every salesperson I know has his or her favorite stories of incredible happenings when the “Proximity Effect” takes over. (For the unknowing, the Proximity Effect states that the more closely the customer approaches a demo instrument, the more likely it is to self-destruct.)

My most memorable demo occurred when I was working with a French company selling semiconductor manufacturing equipment, I arrived with customers from the States and the first morning we were standing outside the demo lab passing the time until we were given the all clear from the instrument technician. As we conversed, an acrid odor permeated the lobby and the lights in the demo lab seemed to dim a bit. The odor became overpowering.

Our boss, the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Albert Szent Gyorgyi, believed in working hard and playing hard. He expected dedication and esprit de corps to come from the intermingling of work and special moments of relaxation. Our respect and dedication to him and his philosophy was never more evident than on April Fool's Day.

The Institute consisted of 12 to 13 scientists, each working on some aspect of muscle structure or function. Its location in Woods Hole, MA, at the tip of Cape Cod was ideal. Dr. Szeni Gyorgyi had gazed out the window of my laboratory on my first day saying, “if I ever walk in and see you staring out the window at the sailboats and fishing vessels I will know you are just recharging your battery.” His warm friendly approach, the seashore and the visiting scientists from all over the world made me feel that this was as close to heaven as I would ever get.