stereology

[ ster-ee-ol-uh-jee, steer- ]

noun

1. a branch of science dealing with the determination of the three-dimensional structure of objects based on two-dimensional views of them.

Word History and Origins

Origin of stereology¹

First recorded in 1960–65; stereo- + -logy

Example Sentences

For decades, the standard method for counting brain cells was stereology: slicing up the brain, tallying cells in thin sheets of tissue splayed on microscope slides and multiplying those numbers by the volume of the relevant region to get an estimate.

From New York Times

Using stereology to take a census of the human brain would require a daunting amount of time, resources and unerring precision.

From New York Times

Stereology is a laborious technique that works well for small, relatively uniform areas of the brain.

From New York Times

In a study from the 1970s, Herculano-Houzel discovered a curious proposal for an alternative to stereology: Why not measure the total amount of DNA in a brain and divide by the average amount of DNA per cell?

From New York Times

But many species have brains that are simply too big, convoluted and multitudinous to yield to stereology.

From New York Times