In the 1940's and 1950's electron microscopy conferences were attended
with everybody interested in learning about the latest technical
developments for one very obvious reason. There was the electron microscope
with its outstanding performance but nobody could make very much use of it
because we were lacking proper techniques to prepare biological specimens.
The development of the thin sectioning technique with its perfectioning in
1952 changed the situation and systematic analysis of the structure of cells
could now be pursued.
Since then electron microscopists have in general become satisfied with
the level of resolution at which cellular structures can be analyzed when
applying this technique. There has been little interest in trying to push
the limit of resolution closer to that determined by the resolving power of
the electron microscope.
