An Institute like ours cannot help but lend credence to the notion of the late Derek J. de Solla Price of Yale University that "the scientific revolution was largely the improvement, invention and use of a series of instruments . . . . that expanded the reach of science in innumerable directions". Most of science today and in years gone by depends on the experimental observation of struc­ ture on the small scale with microscopes, and on the large scale with telescopes. The first instruments to expand the observational range of the human eye were simple optical systems, designed in the case of microscopes and telescopes to magnify the image. The big breakthrough in the 17th century was not when Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens, but when improvements in lens-grinding techniques allowed eyeglass makers to make the first telescope. Early microscopy revealed new and previously unsuspected microstruc­ tures in biological and non-biological materials and thus helped to enlarge on the understanding of the relationship between structure and properties. The natural inclination of all microscopists, the desire to observe ever smaller structures, was satisfied by the construction of higher quality optical systems which reduced the aberrations limiting the usable magnification. The modem optical microscope is the result of this evolution in design and construction, and it can be operated easily to achieve close to the theoretical resolution.

Inhalt

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy.- Applications and Limitations of Sims.- Analytical Ion Microscopy of Cells and Tissues.- Electron Spectroscopies for Studying Chemical Bondings at Surfaces.- High Resolution Electron Microscopy in Materials Science.- Electron Microscopy in Real Colours.- Scattered Electrons in Biological Structure Determination.- An Improved Method for High Contrast Phase Electron Microscopy.- Energy Deposition by X-Rays and Electrons.- Synchrotron Radiation and the Submicron World: Selected Activities at the Daresbury Laboratory, U.K..- Properties of Polymer Resists.- Fabrication of Very Small Structures.- Lenses for Soft X-Rays and X-ray Microscopy Experiments.- Scanning Soft X-Ray Microscopy at the Brookhaven Light Source.- Development of a Scanning X-Ray Microscope at the Daresbury Laboratory.- X-Ray Contact Microscopy.- Ultra Soft X-Ray Contact Microscopy: A New Tool for Plant and Animal Cytology.- Soft X-Ray Microscopy of Activated Human Platelets.