This manual of essentials details the setup and operation of a polarized light microscope for microscopic particle characterization and identification using an approach to applied polarized light microscopy required for applications including industrial problem solving, contaminant identification, trace evidence analysis, and much more.
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
This book begins with an historical introduction covering the contributions of many distinguished crystallographers. From this follows a tutorial in crystal optics. Further chapters discuss the two main mechanisms of optical dissymmetry, the piezo-optic effect and the kinetic ordering of atoms. The book treats the literature comprehensively, but uses illustrations from the authors’ laboratories as the subjects of detailed analyses.
The identification and quantification of material present and collected at a crime scene are critical requirements in investigative analyses. Forensic analysts use a variety of tools and techniques to achieve this, many of which use light. Light is not always the forensic analyst’s friend however, as light can degrade samples and alter results. This book details the analysis of a range of molecular systems by light-based techniques relevant to forensic science, as well as the negative effects of light in the degradation of forensic evidence, such as the breakage of DNA linkages during DNA profiling. The introductory chapters explain how chemiluminescence and fluorescence can be used to visualise samples and the advantages and limitations of available technologies. They also discuss the limitations of our knowledge about how light could alter the physical nature of materials, for example by breaking DNA linkages during DNA profiling or by modifying molecular structures of polymers and illicit drugs. The book then explains how to detect, analyse and interpret evidence from materials such as illicit drugs, agents of bioterrorism, and textiles, using light-based techniques from microscopy to surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Edited by active photobiological and forensic scientists, this book will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of photochemistry, photobiology, toxicology and forensic science.
Recent advances in imaging technology reveal, in real time and great detail, critical changes in living cells and organisms. This manual is a compendium of emerging techniques, organized into two parts: specific methods such as fluorescent labeling, and delivery and detection of labeled molecules in cells; and experimental approaches ranging from the detection of single molecules to the study of dynamic processes in organelles, organs, and whole animals. Although presented primarily as a laboratory manual, the book includes introductory and background material and could be used as a textbook in advanced courses. It also includes a DVD containing movies of living cells in action, created by investigators using the imaging techniques discussed in the book. The editors, David Spector and Robert Goldman, whose previous book was Cells: A Laboratory Manual,are highly respected investigators who have taught microscopy courses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Marine Biology Laboratory at Woods Hole, and Northwestern University.
This text is a primer for liquid crystals, polymers, rubber and elasticity. It is directed at physicists, chemists, material scientists, engineers and applied mathematicians at the graduate student level and beyond.
