Abstract
The goal of Cellular Electron Microscopy is to provide the interested reader with important information on: 1) how current experts apply their trade, 2) limitations of current approaches, and 3) near-future improvements. It accomplishes its goals, but the audience that will use the information is fairly restricted. This book is written for the electron microscopist or cellular biologist and not for pathologists, whether anatomic or ultrastructural. It is a compilation of highly specialized electron microscopy and imaging techniques and methodologies and uses a wide variety of organisms of animal, plant, parasitic, insect, bacterial, and viral origins to communicate information. It is focused at the cellular and subcellular levels and is not targeted to tissue or multicellular processes. Subject material is organized into 5 main themes: preparing cells for electron microscopic evaluation, imaging fixed cells in 3 dimensions, imaging frozen-hydrated cells or cell parts, localizing macromolecules in cells, and aspects of data collection and analysis. The emphasis is on cutting-edge techniques that are directed toward specialized academic laboratories, while downplaying the value of more traditional approaches to the fixation and evaluation of specimens. Thus, the contents are of little practical value to the veterinary pathologist, unless the pathologist is trying to understand the intricacies of electron microscopic techniques as applied to basic biology.
The book is well organized and adequately indexed. The text is heavily supported and supplemented with references, which are complete and current. Ultrastructural images are adequately clear to represent features for an individual experienced in reading electron micrographs, but they sometimes lack the clarity needed for the inexperienced reader. Diagrams and cartoons are of good quality and complement the text. The book is hardbound, with acceptable paper quality.