Abstract
The goal of this text is to provide a first resource to familiarize a pathologist, working collaboratively, with the capabilities of each microscopic technique and how to purchase the correct instrumentation to perform the procedures. This goal has been fully accomplished. The book does more than supply protocols for studying cells and tissues by specialized methods. It provides a number of valuable microscopic methods for the investigative pathologist within a practical context and rationale for selecting one approach over another.
Unlike other texts on specialized microscopy procedures, this text is not overpowering with complex theory of the development of the particular technique. This is evident in the selection of references at the end of each chapter. For example, at the end of the confocal and transmission electron microscopy chapters, some of the classic references by founding authors of the field have been omitted. However, the inclusion of papers on applications of the techniques to cells and whole tissues emphasizes its practical nature, answering specific questions utilizing innovative microscopic techniques.
The first part of the book is dedicated to outlining the range of light microscopic applications. It presents methods in basic bright field microscopy and more complex methods in light microscopy, including confocal, deconvolution, and multiphoton microscopy. It also includes a number of chapters for performing specific classic protocols such as immunofluorescence of actin microfilaments. The in situ hybridization chapter very clearly breaks down the basic steps into discrete sections, with the understanding that the generation of the specific probes for the technique would be performed by another laboratory specialized in that function.
The second part of the text is devoted to transmission electron microscopy and its special applications, such as immunoelectron microscopy. The third part provides key appendices, such as excitation/emission spectra for fluorochromes.
Because it is co-edited by someone dedicated to microscope and associated equipment sales, this book adds a unique perspective by suggesting which equipment and/or general technique is most appropriate to the overall emphasis of the laboratory function. Anybody who has needed to select and purchase equipment for a laboratory knows how extremely valuable this information is when decisions need to made quickly on a limited budget.
Overall, this is a book that needed to be written long ago and should reside on the shelves of any investigative scientist requiring a primer on specialized microscopic techniques.