Medical Colour Photomicrography

WVith improvements in and the lowering costs of photographic methods, light and electron photomicrography have become indispensable for the spread of biomedically related knowledge. Now color photomicrography is within the range of most laboratory budgets, but to my knowledge there has been no comprehensive practical guidebook on color techniques. This book attempts to fill the need. Unfortunately, it is so loosely organized and general that its usefulness as a practical handbook is severely limited. A more specific criticism, probably related to the fact that the book was originally released in Hungary, is that most of the equipment and the bibliography cited by the author is not in standard use in the United States. For instance, no mention was made of the American Optical line of microscopes. Furthermore, while the translation is clear and presumably accurate, the typography is so poor that doubts arise concerning the content, particularly the tables. There are numerous misspellings, and incorrect hyphenations. The effectiveness of the numerous color plates is lessened because of noticeable printthrough and their heavy and artificial reflective coating. Details aside, however, and because of the absence of other guides, this book's redeeming quality lies in its application as a basic primer. It provides theory for the neophyte in understandable terms. Unfortunately, it cannot be used as a direct handbook because of the absence of specific information. Its procedural outlines, such as the steps involved in developing color film or obtaining exposure times, are relatively useless to the man in the darkroom. Such a man needs to know ratings and speed of actual film brands, the serial numbers of lighting units and who makes them, and the trade names and idiosyncracies of developing solutions, and so on. Although the book adequately presents the foundation of basic principles of color photography, the time-proven methods of test stripping and trial and error must ultimately be relied upon in the darkroom. A text that combines the theory of color photomicrography with a complete practical guide has still to be written.