In recent years, many researchers have adapted lithography, deposition and etching techniques from the IC processing community to the fabrication of micromechanical sensors. Many of the signals that these sensors are intended to detect are expressed as forces which stress or deflect the micromechanical structure. As sensors are miniaturized, these forces naturally become smaller, and techniques for detection are required to improve. Our research group has been engaged in a variety of activities, all of which share an interest in improving the force detection capability of microinstruments. In this talk, an overview of these activities will be presented, beginning with simple strain-gauge sensors (micronewtons), sensors based on tunneling displacement transducers (nanonewtons), AFM cantilevers (piconewtons), and ultra-thin force sensing cantilevers (attonewtons). Opportunities for exciting scientific measurements will be highlighted, and challenges for application of MEMS devices to these measurements will be discussed.