When you talk about microscopes, you imagine a piece of metal with a viewing port, some mechanisms for lighting, a few lenses and a specimen. Well, while this perception may apply to all kinds of microscopes, this is pretty generic and an expert in microscopy would say that you've probably never grown out of those student's microscopes. Perhaps, the only time you've seen a microscope was during your Science class in your elementary years.



Today, however, there are so many kinds of microscopes in the market. If you think that mobile phones have been growing like wildfire in the last decade, wait till you see how the microscope has evolved - at least for the past 50 years or so.

Today, you can already encounter terms such as the digital microscope, the fluorescent microscope and the atomic force microscope. Sounds fascinating? Scary perhaps. Then, you can also hear terms such as the inverted and the upright microscope - add to that the research microscope.

If you are not a man of science - and I mean a true-blue man of science - it would be particularly hard for you to differentiate one from another. For you, all you need to know is that the microscope helps you see things that are not visible to the unaided eye - that's it! No more, no less.

But it doesn't hurt to update your "scientific knowledge," right? Thus, this article, will try to explain - using simple words - one of the terms in microscopy (the field of microscopes and of viewing small objects): the research microscope.

What is a research microscope then? For starters, the term is primarily associated with size. Size can be classified according to routine or research (for inverted microscopes) or student, bench-top, and research (for upright microscopes). An upright microscope is one where the lenses are above the illumination system. An inverted microscope, on the other hand, is the type in where the lenses are below the illumination system. This type is mostly used in studying cells that are in suspension.

Back to topic on the research microscope.

Basically, inverted or upright, a research microscope is big: it is the biggest, in fact. A typical research microscope weighs between 30kg and 50kg. Why is it big? Primarily because it is capable of a lot of things.

It can accommodate cameras and several other documentation accessories. It also has a versatile stage (the part where your sample plate is placed). Also, it is capable of Kohler Illumination (the ideal lighting). Some research microscopes even have built-in computers and monitors. In summary, the research microscope is capable of doing anything. This basically explains why it is so big, not to mention expensive.

If you are simply curious of the world around you, you don't need an extravagant kind such as a research microscope. This type is ideal for scientists and researchers whose only job day in and day out is to study the very essence of cells and other minute objects. What you need is the ordinary compound microscope or a student's microscope perhaps.

The microscope indeed has helped scientists discover a lot of things. Now, with the research microscope out and proud, it would not be long before they will be able to discover a few more things - things that will help commoners understand the world better.

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