Scientists would not be able to do their work without the necessary equipment.
Scientific equipment can be as simple as a utensil in your kitchen --- beakers, droppers and Petri dishes -- or as complex as centrifuges and three-dimensional laser imaging. From the ubiquitous microscope to deep sea multi-beam sonar machines, the tools scientists use are as common as the scientific method itself, or as unique as the subjects they study.
Glassware
All kinds of basic laboratory equipment are made from glass. This is because no chemicals will leak out of it to contaminate samples and experiments. Beakers, flasks, funnels, bottles and test tubes are all glassware items. They are used to collect, measure, store and observe chemicals, cells and other substances. Bottles and test tubes often come with stoppers or corks. A glass pipette is used to transfer liquids from one glass container to another. Petri dishes are used to culture cells, while evaporating dishes are used for evaporating chemicals.
Microscopes
Microscopes are far more than the simple machines you peer through in your high school biology class. Today's professional microscopes come in complex designs with specific purposes. Inverted microscopes, for instance, are used for work with live cells, such as in vitro fertilization. Stereomicroscopes increase image contrast, especially beneficial when studying large numbers of cells at a low resolution. There are even virtual microscopes that let you use a computer to study virtual slides. Microscopes come with specialized lighting, laser scanning, florescent imaging and other technological aids.
Other Basic Equipment
In addition to microscopes and glassware, most scientists work with a number of other simple tools. Bunsen Burners are used under glass dishes to heat and evaporate. Clamps, stands and tripods hold other pieces of equipment. Balances, or scales, measure the mass of an object. In laboratories where electricity is studied, a multimeter measures current, resistance and voltage. Increasingly, centrifuges have become common equipment as well; they separate liquids into their constituent parts. All scientists employ safety equipment such as glasses, gloves and aprons.
Specialized Equipment
Scientists in individual fields of study make use of complex machines designed to collect very specific pieces of data. For instance, the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor is used to take remote images that allow scientists to construct a three-dimensional picture of vegetation. This, in turn. is used to study, among other things, the frequency of bird life in relationship to the density of vegetation. Oceanographers use the Coastal Lidar and Radar Imaging System, a rather tractor-looking device, to measure the erosion of sand on beaches.
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