Over the course of my career, I’ve been involved in the development of several novel microscope technologies: near-field optics, single molecule localization, lattice light sheet, structured illumination, and adaptive optics. In each case, the process has involved determining the customer’s (i.e., biologists) needs, rummaging through a physicist’s bag of tricks to see what might help solve their problem, and putting in the blood, sweat, and tears needed to engineer a practical solution when the reality turns out to be much messier than the original physical picture. I will describe this process, and some pitfalls to avoid, with the hope of illustrating a few general principles for the pursuit of impactful applied science.
