There are four books describing early studies and views on light, optics and vision that are considered to be landmarks in this branch of science. The first of these is Euclid’s Optica, published about 300BC, in which he postulated that light travelled in straight lines; he described the laws of reflection and described them mathematically. The second is by Ptolemy. He is best known for his 15 ...

I took patience and hard work. Now, finally, researchers are seeing some sunshine break through what was once a cloudy beginning for near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Paul Barbara of the University of Texas–Austin (UT– Austin) is among a group of analytical chemists who have a deep respect for this tool and see it as a technique ripe with potential, ranging from chemistry to physic...