The December issue of In-Focus examines the enthusiastic world of the amateur microscopist. The author, Maurice Smith, is a keen British amateur and writes from a UK perspective, but amateurs the world over will be familiar with the points he makes.
And what about the professional? Most readers of In-Focus are likely to be professional microscopists, how do we regard the world of the amateur? All too often there's little or no contact between those for whom microscopy is a career and those for whom it's an absorbing hobby. There are opportunities here for both sides, read on...
(The author can be contacted by e-mail at mol@molcol.demon.co.uk, or by telephone or fax on +44 181 685 0528.)
There are probably between 700 and 1000 amateur microscopists in the UK although an accurate estimate is difficult. The figures are based on the memberships of two of the largest UK microscopy clubs and a speculative assessment of non-members. Most amateurs fall within the older age group, typically over 45 years, with many being over 60 years. This is a very small number of enthusiasts when compared with other hobbies and pastimes, yet the wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm within this small band of people more than makes up for any lack of numbers. Amateur microscopists come from all walks of life and from a variety of different career backgrounds, usually with no formal scientific connection.
Unlike the professional, the amateur microscopist is free to follow any aspect he or she desires. As we all know, motivation through interest and consuming curiosity can help an individual advance rapidly in a chosen area of study. This is true of amateur microscopists, many have become experts in their chosen fields. You have only to read the journals and bulletins of the clubs to see the considerable knowledge and expertise available especially in the identification of minerals, insects, rotifers, algae, and other living forms. Several amateurs have become leading experts and provide original papers on their studies for refereed publication. Many club members are (or were) professionals, which greatly benefits the pure amateur when preparing articles for journal publication.
Because of cost the amateur is generally restricted to practising light microscopy. The range of optical instruments used however is extraordinary, with many microscopists purchasing sophisticated optical instruments through second-hand sources. The use of new technology is probably limited to video microscopy and in a few cases personal computers are exploited for their image-grabbing and image-enhancing capabilities. Amateur video films are exhibited at various meetings that take place monthly around the country and in most cases the quality of the recordings are very high.
Help and collaboration between amateurs is maintained on a friendly basis with little or no witholding of information. I can only imagine that this would not be the case in a professional environment where know-how and expertise is partly owned by academic or business institutions, and where one's career is dependent on recognition of work done and the results achieved.
Two of the largest clubs have been in existence for over 100 years. These are 'The Quekett Microscopical Club' and 'The Postal Microscopical society'. The Quekett is probably the better known and is ideally positioned to encourage people to take up microscopy as a hobby. It has a unique arrangement with the Natural History Museum in London and holds regular monthly meetings in the perfect environment of this prestigious building. A public exhibition of amateur microscopy is run by the Quekett annually from within the museum itself. The Quekett has always been ready to embrace new ideas which has probably contributed to its success over the years. It is hoped that the club's recent Web presence will encourage growth in membership (especially within the younger age band), whilst providing up-to-date information for existing members with Web access.
The Postal Microscopical society, or PMS as it is affectionately known, has a membership which circulates boxes of slides through the postal system every fortnight. Each box is accompanied by a small notebook where the members can add notes on their study of the slides. Entries are signed by the members. These books provide a collective wealth of knowledge which can assist new-comers to amateur microscopy and related sciences. The notes often contain personal anecdotes and remarks which lend an air of informality and friendliness. The PMS committee is currently considering an Internet representation on the Internet. I am unable to include their contact address within this article, but if you are further interested in this club you can contact me by e-mail at mol@molcol.demon.co.uk.This is not only sad but a disadvantage to the professional world as well. For most people first contact with scientific study using a microscope is in the school classroom, perhaps leading to a degree course and future career.
A small band of Bristish amateurs has recently started a campaign to try to halt the decline in interest by opening MICSCAPE, a magazine on the World Wide Web. It is hoped that by publishing popular articles and colour images, public awareness and curiosity will be engaged. The campaign is further supported by a Shareware software package developed over the last four years which turns an ordinary PC into a virtual microscope: 'Microscope for the PC'. The software reinforces the importance of using a real optical instrument instead of relying on electronic images alone, it's available from MICSCAPE or by ftp from any SimTel mirror in the directory simtel/pub/msdos/microscp.
The Quekett Club and several members of the PMS are actively contributing articles and other material to the magazine on a regular basis. Other ideas are planned for the new year.
Personally, I would like to see a greater association between the amateur microscopist and the professional. In the field of astronomy, amateurs all over the world help to feed information into the academic and professional environments. I would like to see similar projects run in the amateur community. In such a diverse and immense area of scientific study, the professional microscopist is probably limited in time and resources, yet outside his/her environment lies a large, virtually, untapped resource: the amateur microscopist! If any professional or academic body wishes to 'plug-in' and help co-ordinate research where they consider amateur microscopists might contribute, then I would be happy to talk with them to discuss ways of establishing such a partnership.
(Editor's note: This is a very good point. Amateur astronomers study variable stars, meteors and other phenomena, alerting the professionals when something new or unusual is discovered. Such survey work requires large numbers of observers for long periods and would be impossibly expensive for professionals. Amateur microscopists could help where statistically large surveys are necessary over large geographical areas, or where morphological details are needed for many related specimens as in comparative plant embryology.)