The twenty winning entries of the 17th annual Nikon International Small World Competition were displayed for the month of November, 1991, at Nikon House in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Winning photomicrographs utilized a diverse set of techniques including darkfield, polarized light, fluorescence, reflected differential interference contrast (DIC), Rheinberg illumination, and several stunning brightfield images. Judges for the 1991 competition were Cynthia A. Fitzsimons (McCrone Associates), Randy O. Wayne (Cornell University), Raymond E. Lund (Johns Hopkins), and Martin L. Scott (Scientific Imaging).

1991 Contest Prizewinners

  • First Prize

    1st Prize - Marc Van Hove

    Centexbel - Gent, Belgium
    Specimen: Polyurethane elastic fiber bundle (25x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

  • Second Prize

    2nd Prize - Nancy Kedersha

    ImmunoGen, Inc. - Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
    Specimen: Triple exposure of melanoma and astrocytoma cell culture (200x)
    Technique: Fluorescence

  • Third Prize

    3rd Prize - R.B. Fellman

    Moog Inc. - East Aurora, New York, USA
    Specimen: Diffusion welded 6A1-4V-Ti to 6A1-4V-Ti with thin copper layer as a bonding aid (200x)
    Technique: Differential Interference Contrast

  • Fourth Prize

    4th Prize - Michael J. Klein, M.D.

    Department of Pathology - Mount Sinai School of Medicine - New York, New York, USA
    Specimen: Fracture of a single bone trabeculum in osteoporosis (16x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

  • Fifth Prize

    5th Prize - M.I. (Spike) Walker

    Microworld Services - Penkridge, Staffordshire, England
    Specimen: Live desmid Micrasterias rotata (80x)
    Technique: Darkfield

  • Sixth Prize

    6th Prize - Karl E. Deckart

    Eckental-Eschenau, Germany
    Specimen: Low-voltage fed mini bulb (10x)
    Technique: Brightfield

  • Seventh Prize

    7th Prize - James Hayden

    School of Veterinary Medicine - University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
    Specimen: Canine epithelium with compound hair follicles (39x)
    Technique: Darkfield

  • Eighth Prize

    8th Prize - Fred Espinosa

    United Technologies Research Center - East Hartford, Connecticut, USA
    Specimen: Printed circuit board, glass fibers in resin matrix (200x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

  • Ninth Prize

    9th Prize - Rodney Rappe

    3M - Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, USA
    Specimen: Corrosion site on a metallic thin film (50x)
    Technique: Darkfield

  • Tenth Prize

    10th Prize - Eric Van Esch

    Organon International B.V. - Oss, The Netherlands
    Specimen: Dried biebrich scarlet solution (40x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

  • Eleventh Prize

    11th Prize - Robert L. Calentine

    University of Wisconsin - River Falls, Wisconsin, USA
    Specimen: Sporangia of the slime mold Metatrichia vesparium (20x)
    Technique: Brightfield

  • Twelfth Prize

    12th Prize - Susan Nowogrodzki

    East Greenbush, New York, USA
    Specimen: Newt lung epithelial cell in mitosis (240x)
    Technique: Fluorescence

  • Thirteenth Prize

    13th Prize - Ray Zinkowski and Albert Tousson

    Department of Cell Biology - Birmingham, Alabama, USA
    Specimen: Aberrant division of mammalian cell (500x)
    Technique: Fluorescence, computer-enhanced

  • Fourteenth Prize

    14th Prize - Harvard Schnerdyl

    Applied Magnetics Corporation - Goleta, California, USA
    Specimen: Glasses in ferrite window (33x)
    Technique: Darkfield

  • Fifteenth Prize

    15th Prize - Norman J. Barker

    School of Medicine - Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore, Maryland, USA
    Specimen: Dinosaur bone fossil (10x)
    Technique: Brightfield

  • Sixteenth Prize

    16th Prize - Andre Gorzynski

    East Amherst, New York, USA
    Specimen: Old Cibachrome bleach (35x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

  • Seventeenth Prize

    17th Prize - Richard S. Brown

    Millette Vander Wood and Associates - Norcross, Georgia, USA
    Specimen: Fusion preparation of dodeconoic acid (25x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

  • Eighteenth Prize

    18th Prize - Andrew Syred

    Microscopix Photolibrary - Beguildy, Powys, Wales
    Specimen: Kingfisher feather mounted in euparal (40x)
    Technique: Rheinberg Illumination

  • Nineteenth Prize

    19th Prize - M.I. (Spike) Walker

    Microworld Services - Penkridge, Staffordshire, England
    Specimen: Ascorbic acid crystals (12.5x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

  • Twentieth Prize

    20th Prize - James W. Evarts

    Aztec Corporation - Freeport, New York, USA
    Specimen: Hydroquinone powder crystals (100x)
    Technique: Polarized Light

View the Static Gallery