Microbiology and Immunology

WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY Ruska, Ernst

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Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer took Ruska’s concept fur-

ther by using a beam of electrons to scan the surface of a spec-

imen (rather than to penetrate it). A recording of the current

generated by the intermingling of electrons emitted from both

the beam and specimen is used to build a contour map of the

surface. The function of this scanning electron microscope

complements, rather than competes against, the transmission

microscope, and its inventors shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in

physics with Ruska.

In 1937, Ruska married Irmela Ruth Geigis, and the

couple had two sons and a daughter. In addition to the Nobel

Prize, Ruska’s work was honored with the Senckenberg Prize

of the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1939, the Lasker

Award in 1960, and the Duddell Medal and Prize of the

Institute of Physics in London in 1975, among other awards.

He also held honorary doctorates from the University of Kiev,

the University of Modena, the Free University of Berlin, and

the University of Toronto. Ruska died in West Berlin on May

30, 1988.

See alsoMicroscope and microscopy

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