In the lab of Imago Scientific Instruments, atoms are in flight, an invisible stream of 15,000 a second zipping through the sealed core of a stainless steel microscope.
Over 17 years of effort and obsession, Madison scientist Tom Kelly wagered everything from his job and his house to his mother’s money on the belief that he could turn this stream of atoms into Technicolor images.
“I felt there was an opportunity to do something extraordinary,” the red- haired materials engineer said in his Boston brogue. “We can go through life ordinary, or we can grasp that one chance when it comes.”