• You can see Dr Dr Philippe Laissue's images on his Flickr channel

The Café Scientifique talk series starts the New Year with a voyage into the microscopic worlds captured by Dr Philippe Laissue of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex.

On Wednesday 14 January,  Dr Laissue will give a guided tour of microscopy - discussing the microscopic marvels he uncovers and how magnifying life keeps changing science. The talk is well timed as last year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to three scientists who pioneered new microscopy techniques to peer inside nerve cells, track proteins that cause disease and watch cells divide in living embryos.

Dr Laissue will explain why looking at tiny things is so powerful and useful and use stunning images and movies of cells and organisms to show how microscopy helps to understand life and disease on an expanding scale.

The talk starts at 7pm (doors open 6.30pm) at The Minories Garden Café, 74 High Street, Colchester.

Watch previous Café Scientifique talks on our Vimeo channel.