Small things considered

Microscopy has come a long way since the seventeenth century, when the English polymath Robert Hooke peered through a primitive compound microscope of his own design and realized that cork is made up of what he termed "cells." Today's techniques--live-cell imaging, fluorescent probes, the use of light beyond the visible reaches of the spectrum--have continued to open up worlds within worlds that Hooke could not have imagined.

But perhaps even more significant than the progress in microscopy itself are the advances in the ways of recording images--specifically by means of photography. Beginning with Hooke and continuing until well into the twentieth century, microscopists had to rely on verbal and written descriptions and drawings to describe the wonders they observed. Photomicrography changed all that. Photographic methods have become an essential part of scientific investigation, not to mention the vital role they play in making images that can be shared with one's colleagues.

The light micrographs here--among the top prizewinners in the Olympus BioScapes 2005 Digital Imaging Competition, organized by Olympus America Inc. of Melville, New York--represent an eclectic range of subject matter, as briefly detailed in the captions. Mostly, however, the pictures can stand on their own, as icons of technical scientific virtuosity, and as works of art. --THE EDITORS