Looking at Very Small Things

The best way to understand and model complex systems is to obtain detailed information about their behavior. Biologists have developed many ways to obtain information about the workings of a cell. Some of these methods are clever and intricate, and many methods collect indirect evidence of behavior. I will start by discussing the most natural of these methods—the microscope—because, as Yogi Berra is reputed to have said, “you can observe a lot by just watching.” For many purposes, the best way to study a cell is to look at it through a microscope.