Abstract
When it comes to sample prep, the most important thing to remember is this—garbage in, garbage out. No matter how good the microscope and no matter how good the microscoper, a bad sample will always be bad. The effort in microscopy should not be in image editing; it should be in sample prep.
I have kept this chapter slightly generic, as you could dedicate an entire book to sample prep techniques alone. The best advice for the microscoper is to (a) research your sample and how other scientists have prepared it and (b) experiment! Take your time with sample prep—it is the key to good microscopy.
‘Of these there are multitudes, many of which I have observ’d through a Microscope, and find, that they do, for the most part, everyone afford exceeding pleasant and beautiful objects’
Robert Hooke, Micrographia
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lawlor, D. (2019). Sample Prep. In: Introduction to Light Microscopy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05393-2_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05393-2_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05392-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05393-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)