edited by Ammasi Periasamy Oxford University Press (2001) 434 pages. ISBN 1-19-513936-4£75
Published under the auspices of the American Physiological Society, with contributions from many of the luminaries in cell imaging, this book promises much. The subject is hot, but, at first sight, the volume is unappealing. The dust jacket design is crude and garish; the colour figures are all bunched together for cheapness of production. The first few chapters are not outstanding. For example, in the introductory discussion of fluorescence,oxygen, which everyone knows is a key player in phototoxicity, is mentioned merely as a possible fluorescence quencher. Brightness of a fluorophore is equated with a high quantum yield, without mention of the need also for a high extinction coefficient. The pioneering work of Carlsson and Mossberg on the suppression of interchannel cross-talk by the use of pulsed lasers and detectors is incorrectly described as a software innovation. Incredibly,Minsky is...
