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Observations of Human Blood Aim To correctly set up a light microscope to observe human blood. Introduction Microscopy is used in many areas of biological science and is an extremely useful tool in aiding research, and is particularly valuable in the study of the components of organisms. Microscopes work using a complex coordinated system of lenses in such a way that a magnified image of a specimen is seen many times its actual size. Obtaining a clear image is crucial and is dependant on several things; correct usage of the microscope (which will be explained in the method section of this report), good resolution and good contrast. Good resolution is acquired by keeping all lenses clean and depends on the wavelength of the illumination. Due to the wave nature of light, it cannot be focussed beyond 200nm and therefore features beyond this would be indistinguishable. Electron microscopes have shorter wavelengths, but a light microscope is more appropriate for observing whole blood cells. Good contrast is essential for the comparison between areas of the specimen, such as light areas vs. dark areas. A problem that arises is that most cells are different shades of grey and to increase the contrast, specimens a