FFP2 facemask, magnified. Photo Vittorio Saggiomo. A scanning electron microscope is a useful tool for scientists. The instrument magnifies objects by thousands of times, revealing the invisible. In black and white, because the microscope works with electrons rather than light. Scientists often colour the images themselves to highlight certain details.
This is exactly what Vittorio Saggiomo (BioNano Technology) did with his images when he sought to get to grips with the device earlier this year. With no particular end in mind, but just because he loves colours. Then he had an inspiration. ‘I’ve seen lots of colouring books, but never one with photos like these.’
Fun
A quick search on Amazon confirmed his suspicion. ‘No, indeed. Then it seemed a good idea to do it myself.’ Not with the aim of making money, incidentally. ‘Just for the fun of it and for the sake of outreach. To introduce the public to science. Children might think they’re beautiful and decide: I want to become a scientist too when I grow up.’
The colouring book with 70 pictures really came out of his own practice sessions with the electron microscope. Saggiomo put various everyday objects into the machine: a Post-it note, dust, pollen, yeast, spores, chalk, some diatomaceous earth, a CD, a shell… And, what could be more contemporary: an FFP2 face mask. There’s a brief description of all the objects.
Knives
The diatoms, in particular, make for beautiful pictures. These are the glass skeletons of single-celled algae. When they’re alive, these algae produce a lot of the oxygen on our planet. In powder form, the skeletons are used as a pesticide. The razor-sharp glass structures cut through small insects like knives. Enlarged, every one of them is a work of art.
And enlarged they are: a scale accompanying each picture shows that the objects have been enlarged about 6000 times. The images have depth as well. The way an electron microscope scans the surface of the object is similar to the way in which radar maps the seabed. So the pictures are really reliefs.
Saggiomo’s colouring book can only be ordered from Amazon and costs 11.98 euros. The book is printed on demand. So far, about 150 of them have been sent by post. Oh, and the CD shown is by Celine Dion. A joke, says Saggiomo. ‘It meant I was making a CD-CD picture.
