But where's the microscope?

This is the optical tweezers setup I'll initially be working with. The microscope slide chamber is clamped to the light-coloured micromanipulator controls at the center, with a water-immersion objective lens on its right side and a light condenser on its left side. The little black and yellow tube at the back left is the infrared laser, and the tall silver strip beside it holds the photodetector that detects the laser light after it is bounced through mirrors and lenses, the slide chamber and condenser, and another mirror. The visible light source is out of view on the left, and the rightmost black thing is the visible-light camera which lets you see what you're doing, via the grey cable that connects it to a computer screen. Lying on the table in front of the camera is a slide chamber, left by one of the biophysics students who've been using this apparatus.