"The Microscope Group Archives"
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Documentation Links



  • www.science-info.net

    An extensive collection, maintained by Gordon Couger, of scanned documentation for equipment from all of the major microscope manufacturers.

    This documentation spans, for instance, equipment available from Carl Zeiss in the 1890s to the McArthur-Kirk biological microscope of the late 1980s.
Apparatus for demonstrating the connection
between diffraction and the image of an object.

Carl Zeiss Jena catalog (1893)


  • Nikon Objectives  

    A complete listing of CF objectives for mechanical tubelength: 160mm and parfocal distance: 45mm
    This illustrated listing includes Achromat, Plan Achromat, Plan Apochromat, and other specialty lenses.

    Ref.  Nikon  USA

    Note : Per Group message #38361 these are the Nikon objectives which have the longer '45mm' body, rather than the shorter barrel type from the older black Nikon microscopes (Nikon Model S, SKe, SKt).

  • 'The Clean Microscope'  

    A user's manual from the series: 'Microscopy from Carl Zeiss - Principals'

    This manual describes recommended procedures, including selection of solvents, for "recognizing dirt and removing it correctly" from critical components of a compound light microscope.

    Ref.  Zeiss  North America

  • 'Webcam' Specification Summary

    A comparison of webcams that are applicable to photomicroscopy and the acquisition of video clips of living specimens under a microscope.
    Sensors with 0.31 to 3.1 mpixels are included, along with complete datasheets.
    There are also brief descriptions of the RGB color Bayer filter, CCD and CMOS sensor characteristics and a range of general purpose camera lens mounts.

    Additional datasheets for Sony CCD sensors:  ICX406AQF,  ICX252AQ  

  • On-line Reference Books

    Some classic, out-of-print texts that are now available for download from the Web:

    Hooke, Robert   ' Micrographia '   (1664)
      A high quality reproduction of this famous text (including all illustrations), as originally printed, under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License.
    You need to download the file: 15491-h.zip
    The unzipped eBook is then available as a standard webpage (1549-h.htm) along with an Images folder that contains the associated illustrations (preview).

    Hogg, Jabez   ' The Microscope: It's History, Construction and Applications '   11th edition (1886)
    [900+ pages  ]
      This book has an excellent discussion of Abbe's observations and consequent theory, as well as some simple and thought provoking experiments demonstrating diffraction.

    Carpenter, William B.  ' The Microscope and Its Revelations '  7th edition (1891)
    Revised by W.H. Dallinger F.R.S.
    [1100 pages  ]
      One of the most comprehensive treatises ever published on the operational principles and applications of a light microscope.

    Gage, Simon Henry.  ' The Microscope, An Introduction to Microscopic Methods and to Histology'
    13th edition (1920)
    [472 pages  ]
      "Progress in all that pertains to microscopy has been marked during the last ten years. Nothing fundamentally new has appeared, but there have been great advances in making practical and usable many processes and much apparatus for which the basic knowledge has existed for a considerable time".

  • Interference Filters 

    A simplified description for the basic theory of interference filters and dichroic mirrors, and their application to epiflourescence microscopy. An excitation filter, dichroic mirror and emission (or barrier) filter form a 'flourescence cube'.


  • Interference Coatings 

    'Design of Optical Interference Coatings' by Alfred Thelen is a comprehensive theoretical summary.
    "This in-depth teatise on the design of optical interference coatings is intended to be a source of new ideas for the practicing optical coating designer, a text book for the advanced students of optical engineering and a reference for those who recognize the key role optical coatings play in optical instruments".

  • Resolution & Contrast Criteria

    An exerpt from a Leitz Technical Information Bulletin (1966) gives a different perspective to the importance of the condenser in a compound microscope. While the effects of varying the condenser aperture are well documented, this bulletin also discusses the requirement for a condenser having the highest optical quality.

  • Anoptral Phase Contrast

    A publication from Reichert (1955) describes the basic principles of both Phase and Anoptral Phase contrast techniques. The Anoptral section is written by Dr. Alvar Wilska, generally acknowledged as the inventor of this specialized microscopic technique.

    A translation of a paper by Peshkov (1955) gives a detailed description of an implementation of Anoptral Phase contrast by a Russian pioneer in this field of light microscopy.

  • Optical Shadowcasting

    Ref: John Hlinka et al., Trans. NY Acad. Sciences, Vol.32 #6, 675-687 (1970)

    This technique is described as an alternative to phase contrast for the study of living cells. The cells are illuminated obliquely by using a specific, offset aperture to obtain a "a detailed relief picture of the cell structure".

  • Microscope Schlieren Optics

    Daniel Axelrod describes a relatively simple modification to a brightfield microscope, based upon schlieren optics, that allows observation of phase gradients in cell specimens leading to "good contrast and resolution".

  • Olympus Objectives  

    A complete listing of objectives (and matching eyepieces) for a mechanical tubelength of 160mm; which includes biological, phase contrast, LWD, polarizing, reflective and metallurgical optics.

    Ref.  Olympus USA

  • AO Spencer Objectives

    Steve Neeley has assembled a comprehensive list of objectives, with manufacturer part numbers, for both 160mm tubelength (1920s-1961) and infinity (1961-present) microscopes.

  • Optical Microscopy  
    Michael W. Davidson (Florida State University) and Mortimer Abramowitz (Olympus America, Inc.)

    An outstanding presentation and concise introduction to topics such as: fundamentals of image formation, Köhler illumination, optical microscope components, optical abberations, eyepiece view fields, sub-stage condenser configurations, contrast enhancing techniques and reflected light flourescence microscopy.