Larry Legg's Learner Projects
Project 1- Preparation for this course.

Watch out for these symbols in my projects!
A good idea
Use household stuff
The right way!
You can skip this if yer don't want details! 
A secret unlocked!

Preparation... real-world  
The first thing you have to do is get your mind right. So yer have a microscope and want to look down it... or maybe yer have to look down it because you are involved with some educational project or qualification? Either way, it helps to remember that the moment you look down it, you have become a new explorer:  that moment - whatever moment - no matter how many times you look - and no matter what you are told - is an event that happens less and less each day! When you look, you are representing the human race as an observer and collector of data about an area of science that only really got glimpsed at.. and was then passed on by!  

What you see, what you think about what you see, is important because yer likely to see things that others have missed or failed to record. Is it important? Well imagine how many people climb the alps or cross the Sahara dessert - and compare that number to the amount of people who travel down an intercity highway. Big difference - huh?!  The critical thing is that the people going down the highway are many and if something unusual happens - a big pile-up or similar,  lots of people can report it. Yup, they'll probably all report something slightly different (we humans tend to get a lot of detail messed up) but the consensus of opinion will win the day. With microscopy, yer (you are) very much on yer own down that highway. If you spot something odd or new at that microscope - everyone who got in the books or got named as a good observer and is still alive - is gonna say yer seeing flying saucers... if yer get my drift?!  

The important thing then is to look for yourself with an open mind and to remember that you are likely to see things that do not just have simple answers because you are looking at a world under-explored!  

Preparation - the instrument  
Yer wouldn't embark on a mission to the moon or some other under-explored territory in a space-ship or vehicle where yer couldn't look out of the windows and see things clearly now would yer? Sure it would be great to have a vehicle that not only had real clear windows - but warp drive, a 'sexy' shape, and a colour-recording system as well. But what yer really need is just something that won't fall to bits on yer and has clear enough windows that you can see through. This doesn't take a NASA budget to get the right kind of instrument to explore Microscopy. It takes about the same kinda (kind of) money as it takes to have a good night out with your family. One thing will give you pleasure for years - the other will buy you good favour with your family and local restaurant... for one night or maybe one week.   

A microscope is a thing that is gonna add to your life but few people around you are likely to realize it.  So be prepared to be considered a little odd and enjoy it. When lambs go to the slaughter house - only the odd ones out know what is really going on: the rest just walk blindly in thinking it's a day out. In choosing to have a closer look at Microscopy - you are also opting to look a closer at the world we live in... and you have taken a first and vital step into redefining more about the magic and complexity of that world. A lot of folks prefer to look at clouds and make up their own distorted fantasy of the things around them. Knowledge is power and real wealth - not 'acquisition' or the basic belief that 'ignorance is bliss'. To know... to look for oneself... is something likely to transform your every thought.   

Microscopy ain't gonna make you rich in money but it will enrich your life!   

In short then - there are two instruments you require. One is a functional basic microscope : the other is a clear and unbiased mind. Both are essential!  

I can't help yer much more with the 'mind' than what I just said,  but for a basic instrument - yer could start with this spec!  

Just to make sure yer turn the page... here is the basic instrument I will be using. Click on the picture to follow thru this first project and find out what all those arrows and numbers represent!  

Carry on: yes | no


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