The Cover Image is a brightfield micrograph (magnification 40x) from a nerve and muscle thin section, by Dr. David Ward (www.dgward.com), Oakdale, California, USA. Courtesy of Nikon Small World (19th Place, 2013 Photomicrography Competition, https://www.nikonsmallworld.com).

This “Aurum” special issue contains the Proceedings of a symposium held in 2018 in Arezzo, a city that binds its history and economy to precious metals such as gold and silver.
The symposium aimed at bridging the gap between scholars, teachers and industry with multidisciplinary contributions spanning from philosophy to chemistry, from economy to handcfraft.

The Cover Image is a brightfield micrograph with colored filters (magnification 14x) from crystals of influenza virus neuraminidase isolated from terns, by Julie Macklin and Graeme Laver, Australian Natl. Univ., Canberra. Courtesy of Nikon Small World (1st Place 1987 Photomicrography Competition, https://www.nikonsmallworld.com). 

The Cover Image is a polarized light photomicrograph of dendritic crystals of sucrose formed after drying some drops of the Italian drink Aperol. Field of view: c. 2 mm. Copyright Bernardo Cesare (www.microckscopica.org)

               

The cover image for this issue is Winter Tree, a woodcut by Charles Beck (1923-2017). We are sincerely grateful to Charles’ family who gave us the permission to reproduce an extraordinary work of art, illustrating the creativity of an artist entrusted to matter... READ MORE

 

The Cover Image is an optical micrograph under crossed polarizers of a hydrated lamellar phase of ascorbyl-6-O-dodecanoate.

The Cover Image is a polarized light photomicrograph of ethylene carbonate crystals, magnification 10 X.