Beauty of a plain sheet of paper revealed using fluorescent light and a microscope
Last updated at 4:13 PM on 14th June 2011
It passes through your hands every time you grab a tissue or pick up a Daily Mail.
But these colourful images show the remarkable intricacy of paper when it is magnified 200 times.
Photographed by zoologist and artist Charles Kazilek, the images highlight an area the size of a full stop on a single piece of paper.
Smooth: This close-up of silk paper shows the difference between proteins and cellulose fibres
A magnified view of papyrus - this was used by the ancient Egyptians and is made using rushes from the Nile
Illuminated by fluorescent light and viewed through a powerful confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), the 'Paper Project' aims to show the beauty in the humdrum material.
The vividly coloured cellulose fibres of paper have been produced by Mr Kazilek since 1985 who works at Arizona State University.
'It is almost invisible from our daily lives and at the microscopic level amazingly beautiful,' the 53-year-old said.
'Since the images we show are roughly the size of a full stop at the end of a sentence you are likely to find a hundred or more beautiful pieces of art in each sheet of paper.
'If you think about how much paper you come into contact each day, there are literally thousands of tiny pieces of art passing through our hands.'
He relies on the natural fluorescence of photon molecules striking the surface of a sheet of paper which give off another color of light.
'We are fortunate that paper is naturally florescent, as are many living things in nature,' explained Charles.
'This means no dyes or other materials are needed to get the paper to fluoresce.'
Sugixawa Tenjyo fibres: A type of speciality paper from Japan
Down under: Paper made from spiny headed mat rushes which are indigenous to Australia
Originally designed to examine the fibres of paper cellulose compared to the proteins of more upmarket silk paper, Mr Kazilek's 'Paper Project' opened his eyes to the beauty of paper.
'The other part of the Paper Project is to realise that this material is arguably one of the first great inventions of humans,' Mr Kazilek said.
'It has been keeping our history and secrets safe for thousands of years.'
He added: 'The very important part about CLSM is that it captures only a very thin slice of a sample.
'Each slice is in perfect focus. It does this many times and the final stack of images are then assembled by the computer into a perfectly in focus image.
'It also means that the image has 3D information.'
Flower power: This paper is made from Gampi tree fibres and daffodils. It creates a sheet that is translucent and strong
They are a common sight in the deserts of north America but barrel cactus' can also be made into paper
source: dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2003469/Microscope-fluorescent-light-reveals-beauty-plain-sheet-paper.html#ixzz1PGXEuf5t
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