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Handbook of biological confocal microscopy, revised edition Edited by James B.

Pawley Plenum Press, New York and London (1990, 1989) 232 pages, illustrations
ISBN 0-306-43538-1

Article in Scanning · January 1992

DOI: 10.1002/sca.4950140210

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 118
Book Reviews
Handbook of Biological Confocal Microscc
Revised Edition
Edited by James B. Pawley
Plenum Press, New York and London (1990, 989)
232 pages, illustrations
ISBN 0-306-43538-1
This volume is a revised edition of papers presented at a
Confocal Microscopy Workshop held at the Electron
Microscopy Society of America Meeting on August 8-9,
1989 in Houston, Texas.
Investigators show an increasing interest in the unique
possibilities of confocal microscopy helpful for high-reso-
lution tomography of fixed and viable tissues or separate
cells with subsequent reconstruction of 3D or 4D (XYZ
and time) images of biologic samples. Over the past 5 to 7
years, there has been an accumulation of reports describing
new modifications of confocal microscopes and their ap-
plication in cellular biology, developmental biology, his-
tology, etc., and outlining the potential use of confocal
microscopy in clinical medicine.
However, despite the considerable proliferation of pub-
lications, a manual on confocal microscopy as yet has not
been issued which would bring to order the vast informa-
tion related to this efficacious method of investigation and
give insight into its biological applications.The volume in
question fills this gap very efficiently.
The volume consists of several chapters, each of which
is important in its own way and is devoted to a specific
number of problems related to the principles of functioning
of confocal microscopes of different types, their peculiar
construction characteristics, possibilities, and limitations.
The scale of the topics discussed is very broad including:
foundations and genesis of the confocal approach, funda-
mental limits in confocal microscopy, quantitativefluores-
cence imaging, laser and conventional sources, scanning
systems, objective lenses and intermediate optical systems,
the pinhole, photon detectors, 3D imaging (manipulation,
display, and analysis; direct recording of stereopairs), flu-
orophores for confocal microscopy, and confocal specimen
preparation.
Consequently, the volume actually is an encyclopaedia
of information pertaining to technical and instrumental
aspects of confocal microscopy. Unfortunately, specific
applied usage of confocal microscopy for study of various
biological objects is not covered in detail.
The logical and objective mode of presenting the mate-
rial produces a favourable impression. The volume is sup-
plied with abundant illustrations making it easier for a biol-
ogist to perceive the chapters devoted to technical aspects
of the topic. An annotated bibliography containing 173 ci-
tations on confocal microscopy concludes the volume. On
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the whole, the text may be regarded as the first sufficient-
ly complete manual on confocal microscopy and can be
recommended for both young investigators and those
actively engaged in using this method in their research of
cellular and tissue samples.
Yu A. Rovensky
Cancer Research Center
Academy of Medical Sciences of Russia
Moscow, Russia
G . V. Saparin
Physical Faculty Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia
Scanning Force Microscopy with Applications to
Electric, Magnetic and Atomic Forces
By Dror Sarid
Oxford University Press, 1991
The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is now a
decade old, the atomic force microscope (AFM) only
slightly more than half that. The current availability of
turnkey STM and AFM systems from well over a dozen
commercial vendors is just one indication of the tremen-
dous progress in instrument development that has occurred
in this short time period. The inherent flexibility and rela-
tive simplicity of the basic electromechanical components
of these instruments have resulted in the rapid evolution
of STM and AFM microscopy and its application in a wide
variety of scientific disciplines. The development of STM
instrumentation provided the initial understanding of good
microscope design; these elements include mechanical
rigidity, piezo scan control, and the control of tip-sample
distance by a feedback circuit based on electrical current
flowing between the two. Building on these elements,
force microscopy employs an additional mechanical ele-
ment, a small cantilever, which flexes in response to attrac-
tive or repulsive forces acting between the tip and sample.
The deflection of the cantilever in response to these forces
is measured and used in the feedback circuit to establish a
constant force. The aim of this book is to present a review
of the optical, electrical, and mechanical principles which
form the basis for force measurements.
The author begins with a thorough resum6 of funda-
mental cantilever properties and sources of noise associat-
ed with the detection of lever motion. The basic equations
for the spring constant and resonance frequency of the can-
tilever are given with convenient tables of materials prop
erties from which one might construct a working AFM
cantilever. Today, the availability of easy-to-use microfab-
ricated cantilevers with essentially ideal mechanical prop-
erties has shifted the emphasis in the field toward the fab-
rication of cantilevers with sharp tips for better resolution
on the atomic scale and for accurate profiling of high