The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope: Internet-Linked

I purchased this book as an accompaniment to a fine microscope i bought for my & year old.I can not say I agree with the reviewer who felt the photos were deceptive. Inspirational and fascinating YES! When I go to Paris I don't expect every place I go to look like a photo from a travel book. You will obviously never be able to see the kind of detail they were able to capture with there electron microscope but it creates a sense of wonder that, I feel, is very conducive to a child's passion for exploration. A dot of lice, that would normally be fairly boring to a child, becomes a alien monster and encourages the questions "What else is there?".Gorgeous photos, well laid out chapters and interesting instructions on how to "do it yourself". I think it is a Must Have for first timers.

My 7 year old wants to read 1-2 pages of this book every night along with a story book. He loves it. It is amazing for me to watch him learn from what the book offers. We have not done any of the experiments yet, but will be doing those very soon.What I love about the book is that it is appropriate for young children, and equally engrossing for adults. I'm not a scientist, so perhaps that is why I find myself fascinated by the pages of this book. I'm learning right along with my son. What more can I say!

I bought this book based on the recommendations of my fellow readers. I was looking for a book to help teach my children the fundamentals of microscopy. This book provides an excellent introduction to the same.Great images. Very diverse collection of images coving the full spectrum of topics. This book is perfectly suited to introducing microscopy to children and adults alike. Not a college level book, but with applicability none the less.In short, brillant.David J. JohnsonChief Metallurical EngineerParagon Ind.Sapulpa, OK, USA

This big, beautiful book offers an award-winning introduction to microscopy. It starts with a brief anatomy lesson, covering all the major parts of a classic microscope: objective lenses, eyepiece, and all the rest. The next few sections show sample microscope images at many different magnifications: bits of plants and bugs, and all the everyday kinds of things an eager beginner is likely to be curious about. It ends with directions for preparing your own slides using easily accessible materials (look for gum arabic at an art supply store).Although this beautiful book will get a beginner off to an enthusiastic start, I'd hardly call it complete. It shows images from both transmission and reflection microscopy, without going into much detail about the different kinds of illumination. It barely mentions staining, and never gets into dark field vs bright field, phase contrast, polarized light, oil immersion, and other techniques, and never discusses binocular microscopes. But, for a kid who just got a microscope for Christmas, it's hard to imagine a better way to get started.- wiredweird

Once a again a great book. Even if you don't have a microscope this book when used with a PC there are links to fine sites for each page in the book.The book is printed on thick paper and in full color. Some of the links use a microscope which you can see how a scope works and allow you change howthe on line microscope works. For about $15.00 IT IS THE BEST BOOK I have ever bought. Do not pass up this book.

We bought this with the My First Lab Duo-Scope Microscope and it was probably my son's favorite Christmas gift ever (he was 8 at the time) and it is also enjoyed by his brother who was ten at the time. They read this book and don't just use it as a reference. We also bought the Learning Resources Prepared Slides Combo Set (48 specimens).

Just bought a nice microscope and ordered this book to help me and my daughter learn more about using it and preparing slides, specifically the product description states it includes "Step-by-step diagrams show how to get the best from a microscope and how to make and keep slides." However, this book primarily shows off nice photos of things that have been magnified by various different microscopes and presents interesting facts about those things. There are two pages on how to use a microscope that are so basic they are not really useful. Almost one whole page is a simple diagram of a microscope and descriptions of each part like, "Focusing knob. Turn this to make the image sharp and clear." Under this is a box that essentially tells you to place the microscope on a table and adjust the mirror so light shines up at the specimen. The next page explains that microscopes can go from lower power to higher power lenses (duh) and concludes with a box that has the following instructions: 1) Place Specimen in the middle of a microscope slide 2) Put the slide on the stage so the part you want to look at is over the hole and light the specimen from below 3) Turn the focusing knob to move the lens close to the slide but make sure it does not touch the slide 4) Look through the eyepiece and raise the lens until the specimen looks sharp and clear. That's it! Written for someone who has never, ever, ever used a microscope before (like my six year old) but not in language that she could actually read on her own so really not very useful to anyone (unless you are a teen or adult who is/was homeschooled and so have never used a microscope before). No info on anything even sort of advanced, like using the oil immersion lens. Provides one little very simplistic box about looking at your cheek cells, but doesn't even provide any info at all about staining them. In a different section about 10 pages later there is a 1/3 page about staining specimens that simply states to soak the specimen in a stain for three minutes, rinse it, and then look at it; but no info on what stains to use. It refers you to another page for that which only lists iodine and eosin, and gives a one paragraph description of each. That's it for stains in the entire book! It has a 1/3 page on caring for your microscope that again is very basic (you can find in the instructions for your scope - nothing novel). Has a two page spread listing microscope-related equipment but then almost no description of how to use anything or why you would even need it. Concludes with a two page spread entitled "Advanced Techniques." One entire page is on using a microtome to cut sections (now we're getting somewhere! Too bad it's only one page of somewhere though!). The second page is the page about stains (all two of them) and a diagram about making a semi-permanent mount (which is interesting but why wouldn't you just make a permanent one?). The most useful part of the whole book was a little recipe for producing your own nutrient-rich gelatin to culture bacteria. In total, of the 91 pages that make up this book, a combined total of about 8 pages covered actually using a microscope. Still, all but maybe two pages were so basic as to not be useful unless you've never handled a microscope before in your life.However, the book does include lots of interesting trivia and very nice images, so that is why I gave it three stars instead of one or two. That's not why I got this book, though, nor why I think others necessarily buy it. It is NOT a complete book of the microscope; more like a book about what things look like with a microscope, but not so useful for someone who wants to learn more about techniques related to using a microscope, especially anything more advanced than 1) put your specimen on the slide, 2) put the slide on the stage so the specimen is over the hole, 3) look through the eyepiece.

Books were well packed and were in a very good condition

Although this is a 'childrens' book it is ideal for those starting out with microscopes who want examples of different magnification. I found it very helpful in deciding the level of magnification I needed.The instructions on how to prepare slides are particularly useful. These are dotted round the book and show the materials you need to prepare each item and how to do it. Most adult books on the subject assume you already know this! There is a section suggesting kit you need to prepare items for slide mounting.This is an excellent book for those starting out and trying to decide what is needed - at the price, highly recommended!

A great book to get the kids interested in the microscopic world and a good resource / primer / study aid for us all.It has lots of magnificent and detailed images covering many examples, plus practical help and advice on choosing and taking care of your microscope. The preparation of samples and slides.An excellent first book which includes links to many on-line resources an images.Full 5 stars from me.

This book took quite a while to arrive. It is a fantastic accompiment to the new microscope my son received for Christmas. The details and photos are incredible, and the book clearly explains how to prepare slides and how to work a microscope. Perfect for a beginner scientist - and I enjoyed reading through it, too!

Excellent book- again its a shame that books on microscopes are either written for 10 year olds or PHD students. Can Brian Cox please write a book on microscopy please?