Microscopes are vital to the job of the criminologist. Several different types of microscopes aid them in their work. Compound microscopes are light illuminated. The image seen with this type of microscope is two-dimensional. This microscope is the most commonly used in science. John Ross explains in R&D that the parameter for a compound microscope involves the power of the microscope. The power is usually engraved on the eyepiece as a number - 5X, 10X, or 20X. Power is frequently misunderstood and often overstressed in the initial list of parameters. Power should be understood in terms of diameters. 1x power is the diameter of an object held 25.4 cm from the unaided eye. That distance is the near point, the closest distance at which a normal unaided eye can keep an object in focus and the basis for all comparisons. A power of 10x means the image in the magnifier or microscope is 10 times that of the same object held 25.4 cm from an unaided eye. One can view individual cells with a microscope. Advances in technology have allowed for higher magnification. However, the typical compound microscope has a low-resolution level (Ross, 1999, 53).
A dissection microscope is light illuminated. The image that appears to its user is three-dimensional. It is used for dissection. One cannot see individual cells because in a dissection microscope because it has a relatively low magnification.
A Scanning Electron Microscope uses a beam of highly energetic electrons to examine objects on a very fine scale. Richard Schalek and Lawrence Drzal explain in Advanced Materials & Processes that electron microscopes function exactly as their optical counterparts except that they use a focused beam of electrons instead of light to "image" the specimen and gain information as to its structure and composition. This beam is focused onto the sample using a magnetic lens. The interaction between the electron beam and the target is detected and tra
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