Abstract
Since its invention in the late 1980s, atomic force microscopy (AFM), in which a nanometer-sized tip is used to physically interrogate the properties of a surface at high resolution, has brought about scientific revolutions in both surface science and biological physics. In response to a request from the journal, I have prepared a top-five list of scientific papers that I feel represent truly landmark developments in the use of AFM in the biophysics field. This selection is necessarily limited by number (just five) and subjective (my opinion) and I offer my apologies to those not appearing in this list.