Object Details
user
Genentech, Inc.
maker
Olympus
Description (Brief)
This inverted microscope was used at Genentech, a biotechnology company. In a traditional light microscope (the kind most often used in high school biology classes), the light source comes from below a slide-mounted specimen and the observer views it from above. By contrast, an inverted microscope’s light source comes from above and the sample is viewed from the bottom.
This configuration eliminates the need for slide-mounting the specimen for observation and allows the observer to view samples in flasks or petri dishes. For this reason the inverted microscope is particularly useful in work with living cells and tissue culture, allowing both observation and manipulation of the sample.
Sources:
Goldstein, David. “Inverted Microscope.” Microscopy-UK. 1998. http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjul98/invert.html
Olympus. “Inverted biological microscope.” http://www.olympus-global.com/en/corc/history/story/micro/headstand/
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Genentech
date made
before 1995
circa 1970
ID Number
2012.0198.60
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.60
Object Name
microscope
microscope, inverted
Physical Description
glass (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
metal (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 18 1/2 in x 11 3/8 in x 7 1/2 in; 46.99 cm x 28.8925 cm x 19.05 cm
overall: 17 3/4 in x 15 in x 11 1/2 in; 45.085 cm x 38.1 cm x 29.21 cm
used
United States: California, South San Francisco
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Biological Sciences
Biotechnology and Genetics
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1428193