Microscopy

Microscope is said to be one of the most essential tools in biology. This is used to
be able to make small things appear larger and be magnified. It involves the use of light
which passes through the lens to enlarge objects that being analyzed.

Microscope comes from two words. These are micro and skopein. Micro means
small and skopein means to see. Hans and Zaccharias Janssen put on record the
first microscope during the start of 1600 th century. In 1700th century, Anton Van
Leeuwenhoek made an Alpha 300X flea glass of ping pong paddle type. This flea glass
microscope constructed by Anton Van Leeuwenhoek is composed of the lens, mounting
pin and the focusing screw.

A flea glass microscope

Curiosity about the things around him made Anton Van Leeunwenhoek made a
flea glass microscope. He wanted to see the part of the world which is unseen. He
opened up another way of experiment when he used the rain water. Fortunately, he saw
animalcules moving about under the microscope.

It is evident that microscope being used nowadays is way more hi-tech in

comparison to the before microscopes. The modern microscope is a lot more advanced.
There are three characteristics of a good microscope. One is having an adequate
magnifying power. Second is having a good resolution. Resolution is the resolving
power. Resolution is inversely proportional with magnification. The third characteristic of
a good microscope is that it has a good definition.
Parts and Functions of Microscope

A microscope has three main parts. These are magnifying parts for enlargement,
illuminating parts for the source of light and mechanical parts which are for support and
operation. Under magnifying part, there is ocular, LPO, HPO, oil immersion objective.
Ocular is used for magnification of the image formed by the objectives. Low power
objective (10X) is the shorter lens that shows the general view of the specimen being
examined while the High Power Objective shows the detailed view of the specimen you
are observing.

The illuminating parts are mirror, condenser, and diaphragm. The mirror is the
one with concave and flat surfaces that directs and reflects light. Condenser
concentrates the light rays while the diaphragm controls and regulates the light passing
through. The mechanical parts are coarse and fine adjustment knob, draw tube, body
tube, revolving nosepiece, base, pillar, inclination screw, etc. The coarse adjustment
knob bring the object into focus and the fine adjustment is for more delicate and exact
focusing. Body tube, which is attached to the arm, supports the draw tube and the
ocular. Revolving nosepiece is used to adjust and get the desired objective in place.
Base is where the microscope stands and the pillar supports the upper part.
ANT

LPO HPO

LPO HPO

It can be seen that the general view of the ant and e under LPO (Low Power
Objective). But in the HPO (High Power Objective), a more detailed view can be
seen.

MICROTECHNIQUE is a way of utilizing microscope in order to achieve microscopic

view. It has nine steps:

1. Clean the objectives using the lens paper.

2. Aligning the optical parts.
3. 2 cm to 2o mm (Elevation) by means the coarse adjustment bringing down.
4. Preparation of the specimen of interest.
5. Microscopic Materials. Slide and cover slip
6. Mount on the stage.
7. Scanning
8. Fixed already with stage clip.
9. Viewing