Department of Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013 Jan 2;52(1):236-52. doi: 10.1002/anie.201205693. Epub 2012 Dec 17.
"The truth is, the Science of Nature has been already too long made only a work of the Brain and the Fancy: It is now high time that it should return to the plainness and soundness of Observations on material and obvious things," proudly declared Robert Hooke in his highly successful picture book of microscopic and telescopic images, "Micrographia" in 1665. Hooke's statement has remained true in chemistry, where a considerable work of the brain and the fancy is still necessary. Single-molecule, real-time transmission electron microscope (SMRT-TEM) imaging at an atomic resolution now allows us to learn about molecules simply by watching movies of them. Like any dream come true, the new analytical technique challenged the old common sense of the communities, and offers new research opportunities that are unavailable by conventional methods. With its capacity to visualize the motions and the reactions of individual molecules and molecular clusters, the SMRT-TEM technique will become an indispensable tool in molecular science and the engineering of natural and synthetic substances, as well as in science education.
“事实上，自然科学已经被过度地视为脑力和想象力的产物：现在是时候让它回归到对物质和明显事物的观察的简单和健全性了，”罗伯特·胡克（Robert Hooke）在他 1665 年出版的成功的微观和望远镜图像图集《显微图谱》中自豪地宣称。胡克的观点在化学领域仍然适用，因为在化学领域，仍然需要大量的脑力和想象力。单分子、实时透射电子显微镜（SMRT-TEM）成像达到原子分辨率，现在使我们能够通过观看它们的电影来了解分子。像任何梦想成真一样，这项新的分析技术挑战了科学界的旧常识，并提供了传统方法无法获得的新的研究机会。SMRT-TEM 技术具有可视化单个分子和分子团簇的运动和反应的能力，将成为分子科学和天然及合成物质工程以及科学教育中不可或缺的工具。
