title: Proper alignment and adjustment of the light microscope.
abstract: The light microscope is a basic tool for the cell biologist, who should have a thorough understanding of how it works, how it should be aligned for different applications (e.g., brightfield, phase-contrast, differential interference contrast, and fluorescence epi-illumination), and how it should be maintained as required to obtain maximum image-forming capacity and resolution. The principles of microscopy and step-by-step alignment and adjustment procedures are described in this unit.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Canman
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting / Q000295:instrumentation; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008857:Microscopy, Interference / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D018715:Microscopy, Video / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000166:cytology; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D010784:Photomicrography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D013048:Specimen Handling