Abstract
Many transparent calcite crystals exhibit striking fluorescence together with own birefringence. On the basis of these two characteristics (fluorescence and birefringence), suitable calcite crystals can be utilized to visualize the splitting of both monochromatic and polarized light emitted from a laser pointer, as the light passes through a crystal. This new device should serve as a learning tool in introductory microscopy courses or whenever learning the principles of polarizing microscopy.
