The following pictures are from the book Microcosmos by Brandon Broll, which is going to be published this month.
South African Broll, who specialises in science and health writing, said: 'The book will show readers the beauty of what is too small to see with the naked eye.
Taken by over 30 'microscopists' using a variety of powerful microscopes, Microcosmos charters a voyage through a miniature world showing the unlikeliest parts of our lives in minuscule detail.
Readers can view extreme close-ups of items including ladies' tights, the surface of the human tongue and the beautiful scales on butterfly wings.
The spectacular visuals were captured using a variety of traditional light-based microscopes, powerful scanning electron microscopes which bombard the subject with electrons and build the image using a computer and transmission electro microscopes.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87s-fB6odbEnzugWvwtcmEXV1WXCzGSNJa2DcwzCyvlIPHNB8WEuhiSB_SUeEQOZCppoJlk7IenbDj2OkycRuviq6jtlbRD5Y-giORWjwB_kbBv1GlygusqGTbx3Q0jsmtHLUKIvKlVuO/s1600/ant.jpg) |
Holding steady: The wood or heathland ant holding a microchip in its toothed (serrated) mandibles. The wood ant is social, and acts as a slave for the blood-red ant Formica sanguine |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhioas82qac734uySspRgGfOliqGhz6Q46O1Qm65mNUMb1rPx_KJy67HsyL9QohAkFs8LFyYUOYJBNYYOobbgt-4bwQ7BiEgfRxDdqmgsiUGloMfgyrDcRI_Y6jDHaMEGciEaEH8IheEf8k/s1600/butterfly+eggs.jpg) |
Another world: A clutch of butterfly eggs sits on a raspberry plant |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQa777CGnZ7WrCcP2iv09CvJ0o4SPJ_2O6rGg9O6Rx8hyphenhyphenjAmGX6BUdJH0AlQvx5PNeijuTsf2fnB3D0v3RDryd79yfY9nFJgxZlEwiiOe9_dnoeTFIq1UK2ZoLWPouUci96nBaD4AitqCd/s1600/cauliflower.jpg) |
Vegetable world: Actually looking like you would imagine it to, this is the head of a cauliflower |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizeTr-3TJQ4Of19gUJW0ySleXdwhEAENOdgi18wYdNm5OLlbWIhdGSheDQyFe__i1HZ2XVri_H_lWklEXqdo0vHNSFUWNLmxxHoeEEfVU641X0qeEoHtcaOVbtOuDHM6Jj642vqfd1-Di/s1600/cigarette+paper.jpg) |
Cosmic: What may look like a filmmaker's vision of an apocalyptic world is actually a cigarette paper. The blue crystals are additives that keep the lit cigarette burning by producing oxygen |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhJiLR2D02zzUF70UzLI2X1wGeThCmcP8CAv7r4MymAdPws_MKjtyp6P4Rk5uzu5r7loYiBtbZDckYBm0S8p9-YIvphUYIqVv9_6ljpArNeY9kMwbsc32vSPsb0d_qsXdFIXt6wqqmM5v/s1600/dust.jpg) |
Colourful clutter: Magnified 22million times, this microscopic photo is of household dust containing long hairs such as cat fur, twisted synthetic and woollen fibres, a pollen grain, plant, serrated insect scales and insect remains. It comes from Microcosmos, a new book which takes readers into a world of extreme close-ups |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr5KkJ5zPRN_L7x6uHtN-hGdSXX-RvGNspxN2BRKEqDVSbIm9pS8j5EKsdi6ZHZnvshOFesdAwggTbO0naG65Tyo8xCjQtw0MD1tdMFDwJYlzM8Hz-kCKpjc8wsc4BA7QY00HIO0n84xeQ/s1600/eybrows.jpg) |
Raised eyebrow: Eyelash hairs growing from the surface of human skin.... magnified 50 times |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDLeaqu6E0l_zkHvBqWmas-BHrOnKRmmV2UAapoEWaM-Jax5E3lS-Io4z3eyWzHIy94_21dAfUjQ_oH6IS6fOAyIsOhjiJH75AblapKHGyizO2HHmnBO9mmKO3L0q5qFn_AnhNHi3oLuu/s1600/fallopian+tube.jpg) |
Enlarged 21 times: This colourful flower is actually of fimbriae, a fringe of tissue, of a Fallopian tube |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_MVq-tpho8azBXPOV_Q2nYV2vLZPwWAU2DkCFGBXp4pg1f1RbmLZ0MNgqKmgPJIppc1lMAmZsryK2rToNjp3EuNZ_m1QHh5OW4L_DsISek4xloTvTkTmB_WOx5IYh__raVwRBBdsL3jp/s1600/hummingbird+tounge.jpg) |
The tip of a hummingbird's tongue |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWV-ANwwD2otdMwA_H5FeUUemmPJyl6qQMEqWabTaYdcuXD9AxJKY7DJjUbJm5ccHKQMxNeEOElL8Qft5HxzS12Sp5agRPMMpbZjjH4qwx_QwSXT1icPvNj6J0NQJehH-cXpg-hUBu6_Zp/s1600/louse.jpg) |
Contagious: A human head louse clings to a strand of hair |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGptbu6duaVNXdmTnb1HN6Ud3OSAMy06DbQcHd7AJm8hjtGOHvD1HW0vkJS3ZTkrgsemyy9HcRrRGi3udzU7Yw200_ZboxX4nXZI5In_dkaMa6uBRmFnPfDVAWY344wLgwWELb0Zo1yP7o/s1600/microchip.jpg) |
Electronic wizardry: This photo - or, more precisely, scanning electron micrograph (SEM) - is of the surface of a silicon microchip |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrj5kvhWV0wklEnoEHrW3BMEKg-JzxyLRV9avlHVcgYsKAnIBtDg_qhAsLoLvqOT6_HjrZZKoFGu5kZgiRQHHO9cja_AE7MtfQZs4MbomykPuL_vcAkEM5s-pj8SEgbnOU4ixzqs6KtAOx/s1600/mosquito.jpg) |
You wouldn't want to meet a mosquito that looked like this. Fortunately, the insect's head has here been magnified 160 times |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gMX6OwqrJwXOvhE9zYPR8XMG_AmtBkzXxlFl1XJym8-DiZ6Oy7Gl8JqHR3qBM5n-GhvpmSr4nxwW3B853Bb1ZlKIBWzUfc4oHeo7PNtktrV3YH2MH-LUN1U_2cJgSsijsH1yMcT5kvLr/s1600/nail.jpg) |
A corroded surface of a rusty metal nail appears like an alien environment when enlarged 600 times
|
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKPh0PVACAS-_CcAZBlhmDGw96c0orrKD-hACzl3UIdlot15rLFAkIrjUXTIbiH8U_9UsOMWzStm3Z_Bw0sgN7OaE2f_cAKe7Zr7NbwEQ_MjzBqCQaGFbDPkzVd0Fqyu9DecnEmKBYFQ3/s1600/nylon.jpg) |
The weave of ladies' nylon stocking tights |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvt7cUm94p86Jy2bhC-2InFEu7yKry4xSBWGuzKeEUjRgxyQyLNw1uVtcx1NAQoQ1bHS11N3AhPuwFLBD7bs-UMX6CpPI1DbIY2cG7OGaVFOHmrnZwUrkazKDJStCKSWKjAUUWhkoxiYo/s1600/peacock+butterfly.jpg) |
Scales from the wing of a peacock butterfly |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4T3PwCBesfML2QrVj55jDwYabunqHS7dRLS43DgFVSShWctTMbRnPRtI1Oa3dJqVIEb1YUQxxQFNLL_1tOefOqGYQm1k9JUVBMR1SF3yh5B16cRkUHSYjdnfnPbYSqRMYw0dzPysmB2CG/s1600/sperm.jpg) |
Magnified seed: Perhaps not as surprising as some of the photos, this microscopic shot is of human sperm |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZ9fRAk1_pqpJeragWL3k-0jS05Me9d3cVruiRM6w2UX9gwSXnW5zCE1i1BwMKrQeOW8pHGLd-rph29V5HiYXTrmwrIHqKAXFxgCf-lWyIR_jJbcOVILLYYS_0CZsJTViavK8IyyBEhjP/s1600/velcro.jpg) |
Close encounter: Nylon hooks and loops interweave to form the material more commonly known as Velcro |
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