Books by members
We have some talented and knowledgeable people among our members, and some of them have recently written books that are definitely of interest to microscopists but are not published by the Club.
The Freshwater Microscopist Part 5
By Tony Pattinson
2021, 132 pp, 15×23 cm, ISBN: 9781006398520, Price £20.79 softcover
Part 5 of this popular series on the collection, observation, mounting, and imaging of freshwater organisms. The size of organisms discussed ranges from the huge (Triops) to bacteria, via tardigrades and water mites. The development of a novel design of fluid mount is described. Heavily illustrated.
Available from blurb.
The Freshwater Microscopist Part 4
By Tony Pattinson
2019, 132 pp, 15×23 cm, ISBN: 9780464322849, Price £18.63 softcover
Part 4 of this popular series on the collection, observation and imaging of freshwater organisms. This volume covers topics that include: digital imaging, producing drawings of specimens by both traditional and digital methods, condenser-less dark-grounds, and improved collection methods. Heavily illustrated.
Available from blurb.
Photographic Image Enhancement and Workflow
By Julian Cremona
2019, 246×189mm, 160 pages, 218 colour photographs, ISBN: 9781785005619, £18.99 (or £15.19 from Crowood Press)
Time and circumstance often prevent the perfect photograph from being taken. This book explains how to enhance an image using readily available software in order to obtain the photo you wanted to take. It explains how to analyse a photograph to recognize what needs to be done, and then shows how to improve it. Instead of being a guide to one specific software program, the book looks at different styles of workflow and process. It covers transferable skills and uses a variety of software for all budgets. Written with accessible clarity and practical detail, this book is a must for everyone who enjoys their photography and wants to take their images to the next level.
Understanding Light Microscopy
By Jeremy Sanderson
2019, 815 pages, 22.6×4.3×28.2 cm, ISBN: 978-0-470-97375-2, £147.50
This textbook introduces readers to the modern light microscope. It can either be used alone or in conjunction with a practical course. The book begins with an account of how the light microscope works, and how to set up the instrument for optimum performance. The nature of light, and its influence on the function of the microscope, as well as practical advice on selecting the most suitable components, is explained to the reader. An account of the different types of currently-available light microscopy modes follows, together with a guide, borne out by the authors practical experience, on how to choose between transmitted or reflected light microscopes; wide-field, confocal, deconvolution or multi-photon microscopes. A description of specimen preparation is given, as well as advice upon cameras, image acquisition and post-processing of data.
Available from Amazon.
Pollen Microscopy
By Norman Chapman
2018, 265×222 mm, 272 pages full colour, ISBN: 978-1-907092-11-4, £29.00 plus p&p
For years we urged Club member Norman Chapman to publish his detailed drawings of pollen, and in 2015 he did, in “Pollen Microscopy”. The book includes colour photographs of the plants. Now he has produced a much larger second edition.
Available through Amazon or from the publisher CMI Publishing Ltd
The Freshwater Microscopist Part 3
By Tony Pattinson
2018, 128 pp, 15×23 cm, ISBN: 9781389061790, Price £18.31 plus p&p softcover
The third book in this series about the collection, observation and mounting of freshwater organisms. Written from a personal viewpoint, this volume builds on techniques described in Parts 1 & 2 to cover the preparation, double-staining and mounting of amphipods. Many other subjects, including a new process for separating diatoms from sand, and a simple means of digitally organising and presenting the contents of diatom strews. Heavily illustrated.
Available from blurb or from Brunel Microscopes.
Most Wonderful in the Smallest ~ A Year in Pursuit of Common Freshwater Microorganisms
By Linda Van Aller Hernick
2017, xii + 146 pages, 203×127 mm, ISBN: 978-1-935778-37-0, Price $22.95 softcover
Most Wonderful in the Smallest presents a first-person journal of a year-long record of collecting, identifying, describing and photographing common microscopic organisms gathered from freshwater environments within short distances from the author’s home in New York State. Extensively illustrated with 119 colour figures, numerous photographs of the organisms show details of taxonomy, anatomy, behaviour, and environment that are mentioned in the journal. The author’s objectives with this work are to document the great number and diversity of microscopic organisms that occupy freshwater environments all around us, to illustrate the fact that viewing and photographing these organisms does not require expensive or sophisticated means, and to call attention to the need for more people to recognize the presence and importance of these micro-communities.
Available through Amazon or from the publisher McDonald & Woodward.
- Read a review (Quekett Bulletin No. 73, September 2017)
Essentials of Polarized Light Microscopy and Ancillary Techniques
By John Gustav Delly
2017, 601 pages, 21.6×4.4×28 cm ISBN: 978-0-692-97947-1, £240.00
Culled from the author’s encyclopedic knowledge and experience in polarized light microscopy, this book is a culmination of seventy-plus years of microscopy know-how, skills, and techniques boiled down into its essential elements. Written in an accessible style supported by abundant colour photos and illustrations, it almost feels like the author is standing over your shoulder, guiding you along through your study of polarized light microscopy. This text is a fresh approach to applied polarized light microscopy suitable for such diverse applications as contaminant identification, bioterrorism and other hazardous material identification, trace evidence analysis, household dust and air pollution analysis.
Available from The McCrone Group or Amazon.
- Read a review by Charles Zona
An Introduction to Digital Photomicrography
By Brian Matsumoto & Carol Roullard
2017, 112 pp, 246×189 mm, ISBN: 9781785003042, Price £16.99 paperback (e-book £12.99)
Written for the hobbyist and the neophyte who wants to take pictures through the microscope. The book includes a description of the parts of the microscope, how to use adjust lighting, types of digital cameras, controls for adjusting digital cameras, choosing a video camera, and controls for videography.
Available through Amazon or from the publisher The Crowood Press.
- Read a review by David Walker on Micscape
The Freshwater Microscopist Part 2
By Tony Pattinson
2016, 116 pp, 15×23 cm, ISBN: 9781367170872, Price £15.67 plus p&p softcover
Further adventures in the collecting and observing of freshwater organisms. Heavily illustrated, with sections including bryozoans, tardigrades, nets, and cleaning and mounting diatoms. Although complete in itself, it is intended as a companion volume to “The Freshwater Microscopist”.
Available from blurb or from Brunel Microscopes.
Insect Microscopy
By Andrew Chick
2016, 246×189 mm, 128 pp., ISBN: 9781785002014, £16.99 paperback
Reveals the basics of insect microscopy, explaining what equipment is needed and how to get the best out of it. Includes insects and their relatives, trapping insects for study, dissection, slide mounting and publishing your work.
Available through Amazon or from The Crowood Press.
The Art of Invisible Landscapes
By Gwyneth Thurgood
2015, 98 pages, 72 illustrations (50 in colour), ISBN: 978-0-9933337-1-2, Price: £30 (including UK postage and packing)
Gwyneth shares her stunning paintings, etchings, drawings and photographs as she interprets the vibrant colours and patterns she has discovered in crystals and chemical compounds under the microscope.
To enquire about availability, please contact Gwyneth Thurgood.
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 42(6) p. 539 (Winter 2015))
The Freshwater Microscopist
By Tony Pattinson
2015, 112 pp, 15×23 cm, ISBN: 9781320438469, Price £15.35 plus p&p softcover
A personal approach to the practical aspects of collecting, viewing and photographing freshwater organisms. Heavily illustrated with images of specimens and equipment. Instructions on making permanent mounts and the use of polarised light.
Available from blurb or from Brunel Microscopes.
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 42(6) p. 538 (Winter 2015))
In One Yard: Close to Nature
By Warren A. Hatch
2015, 103 pp., ISBN: 978-1-884195-65-5, $25.00 paperback
Over 500 colour photos of organisms in the author’s back yard in Oregon, from frogs and butterflies down to planaria, Stentor and Volvox, with detailed captions about their biology and how the photos were taken.
Available from Powell’s Books.
The Beginner’s Microscope
By Peter Evennett & Christopher Hammond
2015, 26 pp., ISBN: 978-0-9502463-9-0, free to schools
This booklet has been written to help pupils get the best out of the microscopes that the Royal Microscopical Society lends to schools in their Microscope Activity Kits.
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 42(6) pp. 536–537 (Winter 2015))
Understanding and Using the Light Microscope
By Chris Thomas & Lewis Woolnough
2014, ii + 54 pp., 21×14.8 cm., ISBN: 978-0-9929289-2-6, Price £8 plus p&p, also available as PDF and Kindle e-books
A straightforward, illustrated book with a QuickStart guide to help you get the most out of your microscope. Whether you use a microscope at work, for study or for fun, this simply written, informative booklet will help you get the best results.
Available from Milton Contact.
Extreme Close-Up Photography and Focus Stacking
By Julian Cremona
2014, 176 pp., 24.6×18.9 cm., 219 colour photographs, ISBN: 978-184797-719-9, Price £16.99 paperback, also available as an eBook
This practical book explains what is meant by macro photography and how to get even closer to your subject: not just a close-up of a butterfly, but details of the eye and wing scales. It includes techniques suited to any budget look at ways to photograph virtually any creature, whether terrestrial, marine or from freshwater. All the key elements to achieve extreme close-ups are built in a clear way, for both outdoor and studio use, and special attention is given to focus stacking, with both software and further enhancements covered.
Available from Amazon or The Crowood Press.
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 42(3) pp. 221–222 (Summer 2014))
- Read reviews on Amazon
Life in UK Freshwaters
By Tony Pattinson
2013, 72 pp., Price £21.23 plus p&p softcover
A wide selection of micro and macroscopic images from ponds, rivers and lakes in the UK, interspersed with descriptions of the creatures themselves and the equipment and techniques used to create them.
Available from blurb.
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 42(2) p. 143 (Winter 2013))
An Introduction to the Microscopical Study of Diatoms
By Robert B. McLaughlin (Edited by John Gustav Delly & Steve Gill)
2012, 532 pp.
“For a beginner this article alone would provide sufficient information for him to commence diatom research virtually at once and save him many hours of tedious searching through a wide variety of textbooks difficult to find and, more frequently than not, in German. I would recommend anyone interested in making diatoms a hobby, that they could do no better than starting with this article.” – Ed. Markham
Free downloadable PDF from Microscopy-UK
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 42(2) pp. 145–147 (Winter 2013))
Understanding and using the stereomicroscope
By Lewis Woolnough – £7.50 + postage
2010, 90 pages, 21.1×14.3×0.6 cm., soft cover, ISBN 978-0-9564591-0-7
Liberally illustrated with colour photographs and diagrams, and incorporating practical activities.
Covers the theory and use of the stereomicroscope.
• Read a review in Quekett Journal of Microscopy 41(5) p. 445 (Summer 2011)
• Read a review by Martin Stolworthy for the British Micromount Society
• Read a review by Alan Cooper for the Stereoscopic Society
The Quekett has no more copies of this book, but it is still available from Brunel Microscopes.
Practical Digital Photomicrography: Photography Through the Microscope for the Life Sciences
By Brian Matsumoto
2010, 184 pp., 25.2×21.3 cm, ISBN: 978-1933952079, Price £53.99 hardcover
Practical Digital Photomicrography is an introduction to digital photography through the microscope in which readers will learn about the techniques and equipment needed to obtain high-quality images of biological subjects.
Available from Amazon
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 41(4) p. 358 (Winter 2010))
- Read reviews on Amazon
A Guide to Wood Microtomy
By Ernie Ives
2001, 114 pp., 21×14.8 cm, ISBN: 0-9540551-0-1
Ernie Ives self-published his book on making quality microslides of wood sections in 2001. After his death, the remaining copies were given to the Quekett and made available for just the cost of postage. There are no copies of the book remaining.
Ernie prepared a second edition in 2009 that was only available on a CD. The contents of the CD are now available as a free download.
- Read a review by Bob Goldsack on Micscape
Unseen Companions: Big Views of Tiny Creatures
Photos by David & Madeleine Spears, text by Adrian Warren
2007, 215 pp, 210 colour photos, 26×26 cm, ISBN: 0-9544350-4-4, RRP £19.99 hardback
This book reveals, at the turn of every page, the spectacular microscopic world, both inside and on the surface of our bodies, together with the artificial habitats that we provide in our homes and our gardens. Contains lots of award-winning scanning electron, light and macro images.
Contact David Spears to buy a copy at the discount price of £10 plus post and packing.
The Microscopic Photographs of J.B. Dancer
By Brian Bracegirdle & James B. McCormick
1993, 288 pp., 9×12 inches, hardback with slipcase, ISBN: 0-940095-10-6, Science Heritage Limited, $97.50
John Benjamin Dancer was an optician who lived most of his life in Manchester. He was distinguished as a lecturer/scientist and was the inventor of microphotography. The Dancer microscopic photographs average 1/8″ in diameter and were produced as a scientific entertainment novelty to be viewed through a microscope or magnifying glass also produced and sold by Dancer.
Features 265 of the 277 listed titles in the Dancer 1873 catalogue and a total of 388 from the combined Dancer-Suter lists. Each of the J. B. Dancer atlas pictures is accompanied by informative notes that form a fascinating portrait of the taste and interests of the 19th Century.
Available to Quekett members for £10 + postage in the Members’ Shop.
- Read a review (Quekett Journal of Microscopy 37(2) pp. 162–163 (Autumn 1993))
Where’s my book?
If you are a Quekett member and have had a relevant book published in the last few years, please contact the Webmaster with its details.