The stereoscopic microscope is to science fair projects what Jell-o is to first time cooks; a foolproof project that will actually do what it is expected to do. Stereoscopic microscopes have been around forever, with their design unaffected by the advent of such 20th century wonders as the electron and digital microscopes.
Compound or Stereoscopic?
No matter how many bells and whistles either of them may have added, there are two basic kinds of microscope: compound and stereoscopic. The difference between them is that a compound microscope allows the user the use of only one eye when viewing a specimen. The stereoscopic microscope, on the other hand, allows the viewer the use of both eyes. What does this mean?
It means that, because the human optical system cannot distinguish depths unless both eyes are viewing an object, a stereoscopic microscope will provide a three dimensional look at a specimen totally lacking in a view through a compound microscope. A compound microscope will create a flat look at the surface of a specimen; for viewing solid objects with three dimensions, most professional researchers much prefer the stereoscopic microscope.
Easy To Build
Just the phrase "stereoscopic microscope" may be enough to intimidate the less scientifically inclined, but the truth is that a stereoscopic microscope can be built by grammar school kids, and hundreds of thousands of them have. The necessary elements for a stereoscopic microscope are lenses with which to condense and maneuver the light so that magnification results; prisms; and binoculars. They do not have to be expensive binoculars, and many a stereoscopic microscope has been constructed for less than $30.
A stereoscopic microscope, while it provides depth of viewing, does not have nearly as strong a magnification capacity as a compound microscope. But that's not all bad, because its weaker magnification makes it much more user friendly. The object will not appear so large that only a small section of it is visible at a time.
Stereoscopic microscopes are ideal for viewing coins, and are available to coin collectors in binocular and trinocular models. The trinocular model not only has twin eyepieces; it had a photography port so that images of the coins can be recorded. Coin collectors love the stereoscopic microscope because it allows them to detect any flaws in the surface of a coin, to read faint dates and mint marks, and to see the effects of their coin cleaning efforts.
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