2. Microscopy applications

2.1 Light microscopy

The optical microscope, with its high resolution (sub-micrometre) and field of view (approx. 0.2 to 2 millimetres), and its long history, is used in a wide variety of disciplines.

• It is probably most widely used in the field of labiology. For the study of cells, tissues and microbes, both in research and as an aid to diagnosis, the objects, whose interesting dimensions range from a few micrometers to half a millimeter, are presented in the form of very thin sections or very flattened media between two slides. These transparent preparations require transmission lighting. They are then visible by their natural absorption variations, unless these are induced by fixing specific dyes. The preparation is thus obtained...