The pairing of electrons underlies the formation of a superconducting state with zero electrical resistance. After twenty years of work, the mechanism of pairing and the temperature at which pairs first form in high-temperature copper-oxide superconductors is still hotly debated. Do pairs form at the critical temperature like conventional superconductors? Is pairing mediated by a bosonic excitation, as in conventional BCS superconductors, or is pairing with d-wave symmetry an unavoidable consequence of strong Coulomb repulsion in these compounds? In search of experimental answers to these important questions, we have develop several new techniques, based on the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), to visualize the process of pair formation on the atomic scale [1] and to probe what controls the strength of pairing in these compounds with high precision.[2] References: [1] Gomes et al. Nature V447, 569 (2007). [2] Pasupathy et al. Science V320, 196 (2008).