The Contributions of Switzerland to the Development of Morphometry and Stereology

Abstract

Quantitative methods were introduced relatively late into microscopy. One reason was that measurements obtained on the flat images presented by sections were of limited and questionable significance in terms of the three dimensional structure. This problem became accentuated in biological electron microscopy with the use of ultrathin sections of cells and tissues, and even more so in the study of polished sections of materials such as metals and minerals. On the other hand, purely descriptive microscopic investigations could only incompletely satisfy the need for structural information. The increasing sophistication of scientific questions asked pressed for the development of suitable methods for deriving true three-dimensional morphometric data from measurements obtained on flat images of random sections. This need was clearly felt in the early 1960’s, particularly when one became aware that the electron microscopic image of cells was quite monotonous, with repetitive basic patterns of structure modulated mostly quantitatively from one cell type to another.