Future trends in microscopy

Abstract

SUMMARY Recent progress and current trends in microscopy are examined with particular reference to possible future developments. The scope for systematic improvement of the traditional optical or electron designs and procedures seems far from exhausted. However the introduction of novel, lens‐free microscopes which, like the scanning tunnelling microscope, produce magnification using an electronic lever arm, could expand the boundaries of the subject most dramatically. The future microscopist may find himself displaced from the more routine tasks of focusing, alignment, image recording and even simple interpretation by the electronic robot. On the other hand, he will gain access to a wider and more sophisticated range of physical and chemical phenomena governing the interaction between the specimen and the radiations he uses to probe its microscopic structure and properties.