Preface

Summary

This book is an illustrated workbench manual of electron microscopy techniques. All the methods cited have been used successfully by the authors in both clinical and research laboratories and have proven to be both reliable and reproducible.

It is intended that someone with very little experience and using only this manual as a guide could set up and operate an electron microscopy laboratory. The preparative techniques outlined apply to animals and human material and are not necessarily applicable to plants and insects. Some will be especially helpful in a clinical setting, which is where the author is presently employed.

Usually only one technique has been outlined in each section, and the methods and materials are very specific and detailed. This has not been done to discredit other methods or products. Rather, it has been done for simplicity in order to eliminate pitfalls for the beginner, to get a reliable method working quickly and easily, and to present as many “tricks of the trade” as possible. Although the methods outlined have been tested extensively and are reliable, scrupulous attention to detail when both reading and applying them is advised. Laboratory cleanliness and accuracy in weighing and mixing chemicals are extremely important. Many of the chemicals used in electron microscopy are very dangerous, and great care should be exercised both in the handling and disposal of these chemicals.

References and descriptions have been kept to a minimum for the sake of clarity and to avoid confusing the novice.