Looking through an Electron Microscope

"It is possible to see the cell organelles clearly though an electron microscope.", proclaimed the science teacher.

"Then why do not we get one in our school, madam?", asked I, oblivious of the intricacies involved with the word 'electron microscopy'.

"An electron microscope costs at least tens of lakhs! Hardly some one in the city, or even the state must be having it!"

As a high school student  I thought what an electron microscope could be like and why and how it could give such high magnifications. As of now I still have no idea how the complex, yet magnificent machine called the electron microscope actually works. Yet I have the content of having seen it and having seen "something" through it, the joy of which is quite inexplicable.

My privilege of having a raw gaze at the electron microscope came in the form of a demonstration workshop jointly held by Gatan Inc. and IISc at the Advanced Facility for Microscopy and Micro-analysis in the campus on 7th July, 2012, wherein modules of the Transmission Electron Microscope and the Scanning Electron Microscope were displayed. The instruments, owing to their gigantic nature, were thoroughly intimidating; yet it was equally bewildering and amazing to see the microscopic image of the aluminium piece through the Scanning Electron Microscope, which was full of textures and patterns that I could have never imagined or expected. Similar was the case with the sample displayed through the Transmission Electron Microscope, which seemed to me like some enigma of an art work, which was too encrypted to be deciphered.. It was simply thrilling to welcome the fact that it has become possible to visualize and maneuver such intricate structures within materials owing to the electron microscope, begetting me an experience that will be cherished for long.