1. Applications of PLM in the Industrial Minerals Laboratory
(Intermicro abstract from The Microscope, 1999: Published Microscopy Today, November 2000)
Lou Solebello-Analytical Light Microscopy Services Inc.
History clearly documents man’s innate curiosity of minerals. Paintings found in tombs
5000 years old in the Nile valley depict early artificers smelting ores and making lapis
and emerald jewelery. Mineralogy began to emerge as a science with the publication of
De re Metallica by Georgius Agricola in 1556. In 1828, William Nicol developed a
polarizing device that permitted the systematic characterization of crystalline substances
with a microscope. The polarizing light microscope eventually evolved into the
intrumental technique we know of today as PLM.
Development of PLM heralded an era of scientific productivity. Minerals, synthetic
organics and organic crystals were systematically characterized and identified by their
optical properties. Progress eventually saw the invention of analytical intrumentation
such as XRF, ICP, SEM, TEM, FTIR and XRD. The polarizing light microscope slowly
disappeared into the background, and eventually could not be found or lay dusty and
unused in many industrial laboratories. Today we are beginning to see a resurgence of
the use of this humbe and venerable instrument. It is once again establishing itself as an
invaluable problem solving instrument.