This book collects the publications of Shinya lnoué, pioneering cell biophysicist and winner of the 2003 International Prize for Biology. The articles cover the discovery, and elucidate the behavior in living cells, of the dynamic molecular filaments which organize the cell and play a central role in cell division. Other articles report on the development of microscopes, especially those using polarized light and digital image enhancement, which make possible studies of the ever-changing molecular architecture directly in living cells. This book also contains many high quality photo-micrographs as well as an appended DVD with an extensive collection of video movies of active living cells. After training in Tokyo and at Princeton University, Dr Inoué has held teaching positions at the University of Washington, Tokyo Metropolitan University, University of Rochester, Dartmouth Medical School, and University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and currently holds the title of Distinguished Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Contents: Introduction to Doctoral Thesis; Physical Chemistry of Microtubules in vivo; Axostyle Motility in Pyrsonympha; Cell Division and the Mitotic Spindle -- A Review; Recollection of Kayo Okazaki; Foundations of Confocal Microscopy; Centrifuge Polarizing Microscope: Design, Performance and Biological Applications; Theory, Measurements and Rectification of Polarization Aberrations; Fluorescence Anisotropy of GFP Crystals; Biological Polarization Microscopy; Address by Emperor Akihito and Acceptance Speech by Shinya Inoué: International Prize for Biology; and other papers.