John,

The last time I saw Geoff was at dinner one night at the NSH meeting in Crystal
City quite a few years ago.  At that time his book was out of print and I
believe
he told me then that the publisher sent him the unsold books (could be wrong
about that as it HAS been a while).  He did send me one (autographed) after the
meeting and that has been the last I've seen or heard from him.

I remember him as a true Gentleman and would assume that he has long since
retired.

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>    Your use of the word "wavy" suggests that the thickness varies,
>    in stripes or bands parallel to the knife edge, or that wrinkles
>    were not flattened out. The former is more likely because you
>    would have seen failure to get rid of wrinkles. The artifact of
>    thickness varying as the knife cuts through the block is called
>    "chatter." Perhaps this is what you have. It is attributed to
>    vibration of either the knife edge or the specimen, and the
>    remedy is to tighten everything up on the microtome, including
>    the little screws that hold a disposable blade onto its support
>    (if applicable to your equipment).
>
>    For an excellent account of chatter and many other cutting artifacts,
>    see "An Introduction to Histotechnology" by Geoffrey Brown (Appleton
>    Century Crofts, New York, 1978. ISBN 0-8385-4340-5). I don't know
>    if it's still in print. I found my copy quite recently, by chance,
>    in a second-hand bookshop, having been previously unaware of it.
>    This nice hard-cover volume may not have got enough publicity. The
>    practical instructions and hints about details are first rate. The
>    author evidently draws on experience in the U.K. and U.S.A.
>
>    This may not answer your question fully, because even uneven sections
>    and those with chatter can be brought into focus if the microscope
>    knob is continually adjusted while moving across the field. Maybe
>    more than one factor is involved, but something wrong in the cutting
>    is probable on the strength of what you say.
>
>  John A. Kiernan,
>  Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
>  The University of Western Ontario,
>  LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1

-- End original message --

regards,
Bob
Robert Schoonhoven
Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis
Dept. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
University of North Carolina
CB#7400
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Phone
office 919-966-6343
   Lab 919-966-6140
   Fax 919-966-6123

**I'm willing to make the mistakes if someone else is willing to learn from
them**