The Plastic Microscope

Once upon a time, an eleven-year-old boy's dad gave him a brand new plastic microscope for Christmas. Interestingly, the little boy's father who grew up in rural Georgia, never learned to read or write himself, and signed his name with a great big “X” for most of his life. (I thought that only happened in old, western movies!) You have to wonder if this dad was merely giving his son an interesting “toy,” or if he subconsciously wanted to give him a key that might unlock a different future.

John Wesley Ingram's son, Dr. Ellis Ingram (we all call him “Poppi”), was enthralled with the world of science that his new little plastic microscope opened up for him. As a young boy, he spent hours gazing at fingerprints and watching shrimp eggs hatch under his microscope.

This fascinating little toy gave birth to a life-long passion for science that followed him from elementary and high school to the University of Michigan Undergraduate and Medical Schools; from the University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics Pathology Department, on to Washington D.C., where he received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mentoring in Science and Mathematics (http://nia.ecsu.edu/onr/04summer/040506paesmem/paesmem.htm). But most importantly, that passion lead him to launch “Caleb - The Science Club” where he leads a team of mentors (medical doctors, medical students, graduate and undergraduate students etc.) who seek to impart passion for science in fifth through twelfth-grade students.

Today, you can log on to eBay and purchase a similar toy microscope for as little as .99 (or $6 if you're inclined to splurge!). But these days, “Poppi” has traded in his dime store toy for high-tech, computerized, multi-headed models that allow up to ten pathologists to simultaneously look at the same slide. Those microscopes can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The Granny's House kids who participate in “Caleb - The Science Club” learn serious science with state-of-the-art equipment and technology from some of the top scientists and scholars in their fields. I'm fascinated by how the Lord uses those day-to-day events of our lives to plant seeds that birth His purposes…even using plastic, dime store toys!

-Granny Pam