Spin microscopy continues a heritage that began with Robert Hooke's 1667 vision that (3) “by the help of microscopes, there is nothing so small, as to escape our inquiry” (Left). The imaging achievements of the IBM Research Division (Center) extend and strengthen this heritage. These achievements lead us to conceive of microscopy as sample spins (Alice, at lower right) transmitting information to observers (Bob, at upper right). With continued advances in nanotechnology, materials science, quantum information science, and many other disciplines—advances that in aggregate are transforming present conceptions of microscopy—Hooke's centuries-old vision may become a twenty-first century reality (Alice and Bob figures by permission of www.xkcd.com).
