The Microscope - Volume 64, Third Quarter 2016

IN THIS ISSUE:

On the cover
Biogenic grains of sand collected from Star Sand Beach in Okinawa, Japan. See editorial, Sand Microscopy: The World in Every Grain, page 98, and Inter/Micro 2016, page 99. (Photomicrograph courtesy of Thomas J. Hopen)

Editorial | Sand Microscopy: The World in Every Grain

Gary J. Laughlin
The Microscope 64 (3), p ii
Excerpt: Sand is much more fascinating than what you see through an hourglass. As any dedicated sand collector will tell you, observing sand with a microscope reveals a world of minute wonders. Lovers of sand (known as psammophiles) comb beaches and deserts around the globe to collect sands and study their unique qualities such as grain shapes, colors, textures, components, and other characteristics specific to sand’s location and geography. Inter/Micro 2016 featured the very popular workshop, Microscopy of Sand, taught masterfully by Thom Hopen and Kate Clover in June 2016 at McCrone Research Institute.

Inter/Micro 2016

Gary J. Laughlin
The Microscope 64 (3), pp 99 – 118
Excerpt: The 68th annual Inter/Micro international microscopy conference, held at McCrone Research Institute in Chicago on June 6-10, hosted leading microscopists and researchers from around the world, including the U.S., India, Israel, Taiwan, Germany, the Netherlands, and U.K. Participants heard in-depth research presentations by amateur, professional and graduate-student microscopists, who covered advancements in instrumentation, new techniques and practical applications in various fields of microscopy and microanalysis. Presentations focused on PLM, SEM, EDS, Raman microscopy, hot-stage and infrared microspectros-copy; microchemistry; forensic trace evidence and criminalistics; pharmaceutical sciences; materials analysis; environmental health; food analysis; and air quality.

Critical Focus | Fantastic Physics — and Worlds We Never See

Brian J. Ford
The Microscope 64 (3), pp 119 – 129
Excerpt: Our media may be full of fabulously expensive physics and overwhelmed by costly astronomy, but the real marvels are closer to home. And while theoretical physicists search for mathematical models to fit what they choose to observe, living cells are already carrying out processes that are far more ingenious. Biological microscopy can reveal more to us than fairytale physics.

An English Translation of the 1767 Duc de Chaulnes Report on His Method of Determining Refractive Indices, and a Practical Graphical Procedure Based on a Refined Duc de Chaulnes Method

Franz W. Nentwich
The Microscope 64 (3), pp 131 – 143
Abstract: An English translation of the original Duc de Chaulnes method for determining refractive indices (RIs) of sections is provided, including a description of his own microscope. Other related references are also included, as well as a modern graphical procedure for determining RIs accurately and rapidly with any microscope objective, based on a refined Duc de Chaulnes method.

Afterimage | Pretty in Pink