It represents the technology for a new age: The nanotechnology leads us to a world, which can not be registered by optical instruments, as their structures are smaller than the wavelength of the visible light. The invisible world is in front of us. Welcome to the nano cosmos.
If you as child have analyzed once the membrane of an onion, parts of a flower or hair under a microscope, you definitely remember the curious and fascinating pictures, which appeared in the middle of glimmering refraction effects in the ocular. You can find the light microscope more and more in schools than in research laboratories. Although it is even useful for some research work, many scientists are anxious to enlarge their field of vision in the area beyond the microscopic world.
There a new strange world exists, which is basically not ascertainable by optical instruments, as their structures are smaller than the wavelength of the visible light. As we indicate the sizes and distances in nano meters (millionth milli meter), we name this empire of invisibility the nano cosmos. Roughly spoken the nano cosmos contains objects, which are bigger than atoms and smaller than a cell. It concerns the world of molecules, from the small (as glucose) up to the comparatively gigantic chain molecules of a living cell, for example the proteins and nucleic acids.
