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Dyeing for the microscope
Author(s) -
Bracegirdle Brian
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of the society of dyers and colourists
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1478-4408
pISSN - 0037-9859
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-4408.1993.tb01528.x
Subject(s) - magnification , microscope , nothing , resolution (logic) , optics , contrast (vision) , computer science , point (geometry) , artificial intelligence , physics , mathematics , philosophy , geometry , epistemology
To understand the need to colour specimens artificially for viewing under the microscope, we must recall that the image has to have two essentials. First, it must have enough resolution to show the details at the required magnification. It is easy to magnify a germ to the size of a table top, but there is no point in doing this with the light microscope because the germ would look like a formless mass. Second, there has to be contrast in the image. If there is a fully resolved picture with no contrast, you can see nothing! Against this background, Brian Bracegirdle tells the story of how dyes and pigments came to be an essential tool of microscopy.