Many people have told me that the first thing they read in this publication is “Carmichael’s Concise Review” by Dr. Stephen W. Carmichael. Stephen has an uncanny ability to find articles in which microscopy has made major contributions to archeology, botany, chemistry, geology, medical research, materials science, or zoology. Always alert to developments in microscopy, in his first review for Microscopy Today in 1994 he discussed three-dimensional reconstructions of living cells and fluorescence microscopes that could image 50 nm structures inside cells. More recent reviews have covered a wide variety of topics: “When dinosaurs became extinct, what happened to the insects?” (Nov. 2002); “Why penguin beaks are sexy!” (Jan. 2007); “Cilia not only move, but also have taste!” (March 2010); “Memory storage with a few atoms” (May 2012); “This mineral is out of this world!” (Nov. 2012); “AFM solves the mystery of the slippery slope” (Sept. 2015). Each Carmichael review is checked by one of the authors of the original paper. Some of these authors have subsequently received a Nobel Prize, indicating Stephen’s perception of important discoveries. Thus, each new Microscopy Today issue brings an interesting and authoritative summary of a recent advance.

This issue contains Stephen’s 150th review. Over half of his reviews have been written for Microscopy Today since the Microscopy Society of America acquired this publication in 2002. Stephen Carmichael and Phil Oshel, an occasional review coauthor, are the longest serving volunteers on our editorial staff. In fact, Stephen has supplied regular reviews for 21 years, in part due to the encouragement of his wife, and has never missed a deadline. His service has spanned all three editors of Microscopy Today: Don Grimes, Ron Anderson, and myself.

Stephen is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy at Mayo Clinic, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Clinical Anatomy, and advisor to journals and medical facilities around the world. Currently he travels extensively as a guest lecturer, but he always finds time to write his review for the next issue of this magazine.

So whether you work in life science or the physical sciences, I assure you that every concise review is worth the reading. Go ahead, give it a try.