Iceland spar and its legacy in science
In the late 17th century, Rasmus Bartholin and Christiaan Huygens investigated a curious optical property of crystals found at Helgustaðir in Eastern Iceland. This property which has been called double refraction, revealed in the 19th century a new aspect of light which turned out to be very useful...
Published in: | History of Geo- and Space Sciences |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-3-117-2012 https://doaj.org/article/c6555a5e80504f839397f4783c724fba |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c6555a5e80504f839397f4783c724fba |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c6555a5e80504f839397f4783c724fba 2023-05-15T16:46:02+02:00 Iceland spar and its legacy in science L. Kristjánsson 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-3-117-2012 https://doaj.org/article/c6555a5e80504f839397f4783c724fba EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.hist-geo-space-sci.net/3/117/2012/hgss-3-117-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5010 https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5029 doi:10.5194/hgss-3-117-2012 2190-5010 2190-5029 https://doaj.org/article/c6555a5e80504f839397f4783c724fba History of Geo- and Space Sciences, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 117-126 (2012) Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-3-117-2012 2022-12-31T13:01:53Z In the late 17th century, Rasmus Bartholin and Christiaan Huygens investigated a curious optical property of crystals found at Helgustaðir in Eastern Iceland. This property which has been called double refraction, revealed in the 19th century a new aspect of light which turned out to be very useful as a probe of the internal structure of matter. Clear specimens of these crystals, an unusually pure variety of calcite, have since around 1780 been known as ''Iceland spar''. Few if any other localities yielding calcite crystals of comparable size and quality were discovered before 1900, and no alternatives for use in precision optical instrumentation were developed until the 1930s. Hundreds of tons of calcite were exported from Helgustaðir, mostly between 1850 and 1925. However, little information has been found on trading routes for the material of optical quality, so that some enigmas remain regarding its supply-demand situation. A study of the scientific literature in the period up to 1930 has revealed that results obtained with the aid of Iceland spar accelerated progress within the earth sciences (in mineralogy and petrology), physics, chemistry, and biology, even by decades. This has also influenced the development of technology and of medicine in various direct and indirect ways. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Bartholin ENVELOPE(-66.688,-66.688,-67.296,-67.296) History of Geo- and Space Sciences 3 1 117 126 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
spellingShingle |
Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 L. Kristjánsson Iceland spar and its legacy in science |
topic_facet |
Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
description |
In the late 17th century, Rasmus Bartholin and Christiaan Huygens investigated a curious optical property of crystals found at Helgustaðir in Eastern Iceland. This property which has been called double refraction, revealed in the 19th century a new aspect of light which turned out to be very useful as a probe of the internal structure of matter. Clear specimens of these crystals, an unusually pure variety of calcite, have since around 1780 been known as ''Iceland spar''. Few if any other localities yielding calcite crystals of comparable size and quality were discovered before 1900, and no alternatives for use in precision optical instrumentation were developed until the 1930s. Hundreds of tons of calcite were exported from Helgustaðir, mostly between 1850 and 1925. However, little information has been found on trading routes for the material of optical quality, so that some enigmas remain regarding its supply-demand situation. A study of the scientific literature in the period up to 1930 has revealed that results obtained with the aid of Iceland spar accelerated progress within the earth sciences (in mineralogy and petrology), physics, chemistry, and biology, even by decades. This has also influenced the development of technology and of medicine in various direct and indirect ways. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. Kristjánsson |
author_facet |
L. Kristjánsson |
author_sort |
L. Kristjánsson |
title |
Iceland spar and its legacy in science |
title_short |
Iceland spar and its legacy in science |
title_full |
Iceland spar and its legacy in science |
title_fullStr |
Iceland spar and its legacy in science |
title_full_unstemmed |
Iceland spar and its legacy in science |
title_sort |
iceland spar and its legacy in science |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-3-117-2012 https://doaj.org/article/c6555a5e80504f839397f4783c724fba |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-66.688,-66.688,-67.296,-67.296) |
geographic |
Bartholin |
geographic_facet |
Bartholin |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
History of Geo- and Space Sciences, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 117-126 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://www.hist-geo-space-sci.net/3/117/2012/hgss-3-117-2012.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5010 https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5029 doi:10.5194/hgss-3-117-2012 2190-5010 2190-5029 https://doaj.org/article/c6555a5e80504f839397f4783c724fba |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-3-117-2012 |
container_title |
History of Geo- and Space Sciences |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
117 |
op_container_end_page |
126 |
_version_ |
1766036170888708096 |