This microscope has revealed a hidden world to me
Each life has several foci, activities around which the days revolve, and objects which are the tools of those crafts. The Meade Model 9400 microscope which sits on a table in the center of my study/laboratory overlooking Malibu Lake is just such a object for me, and its importance in my daily activity cannot be overestimated. I arise early each morning to wander through Malibu Creek State Park and other parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, where I collect specimens of protozoa for later classification and preservation. Since I spend several hours each day looking through the eyepiece of this instrument, I can say that I am experienced enough to state that it is a quality tool of fine manufacture. Its range of magnification, from 40X to 400X, is sufficient for the serious amateur. The rotary diaphragm, giving the microscopist control over the amount of light used for viewing, is also an important feature, and the course and fine adjustment focus knobs further increase its versatility. I will also point out that it is of sturdy design, having survived being pushed from the worktable to the floor by Moby Dick, our large and overly affectionate cat. It is the instrument which travels with me on my journeys around the globe, and which has helped me catalog those organisms described in my ongoing series of monographs on the protozoa of far-flung corners of the world, the most recent being a work in progress titled The Protozoa of Quijotanía. My only suggestions for improvement are that the microscope be sold with a screwdriver small enough to adjust the mirror, and a camel's hair brush with which to clean the lenses. If the manufacturers were to make a carrying case designed for this model, I would be interested in buying that separately as well. A fine instrument for the amateur naturalist, I expect that this sturdy, well-made tool will serve me, for a long time, as a portal into the microscopic world which lies invisibly all around us. |
