After studying this chapter you should be able to:
- List and understand the parts of the compound microscope
- Define magnification, field of view, working distance, and depth of focus
- Contrast the comparison and compound microscopes
- Understand the theory and utility of the stereoscopic microscope
- Appreciate how a polarizing microscope is designed to characterize polarized light
- Appreciate how a microspectrophotometer can be used to examine trace physical evidence
- Compare and contrast the image formation mechanism of a light microscope to that of a scanning electron microscope
- Outline some forensic applications of the scanning electron microscope
