March 23, 2002

"Spirits, Burning Churches, Calcite and Quartz." A Workshop on the History and Development of Polarized Light Microscopy
Kendall Winter & Bill Mikuska

Lectures and various experiments will center around the subject of polarized light. Participants will be treated to a biographical review of the early workers in this field, an accounting of some of their astonishing mishaps as well as a review of the curious concepts and materials which inspired their work. Particular attention will be given to the subject of quartz, some of its amazing qualities and the interactions of light with its crystal structure.

This workshop offers an opportunity to examine linear and circular polarized light with a home made polariscope. Comparisons between the polariscope and the polarized light microscope will be made. Participents will keep their polariscopes and samples.

Bio Sketch

Kendall Winter received his B.S. in biology at Lake Forest College in 1980. He continued studying, independently, various subjects in botany and mineralogy thereafter. Through a past affiliation with the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, he studied the genus Rhus (sumac) globally.
Herbarium specimens collected on trips to South Africa, Mexico, New Guinea are vouchered at the Morton Arboretum, the Field Museum, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and the U.S. National Herbarium; the study included a survey of taxonomic features including pollen, trichomes and
leaf surfaces using scanning electron microscopy. Kendall is also a serious student of the local native flora.

He is a mineral collector, and a regular attendee of the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show; in addition to being a quartz enthusiast, he has a keen interest in feldspars. Kendall has for twenty-seven years been owner of K. L. Winter Co., a horticultural consultation, design and
installation company. This Lake Forest based company specializes in the cultivation of traditional perennial borders, temperate trees and shrubs.

Bio Sketch

Bill C. Mikuska received his BS and MS in chemistry from the Illinois Institute of Technology with emphasis in physical chemistry and chemical physics.

A 30 year teaching career at Triton College followed where he engages students to use polarized light microscopy in independent study projects.

He has been an officer in the State Microscopical Society for several years of which this is his fifth year as president, and is also a member of the Royal Microscopical Society. Most recently he became amember of the Rowfant Club, a bibliophillic society founded in Cleveland in 1892.

His interests range from classical music (organ performance and practice), Venetian and French glass, antiques, art, orchids, cacti and succulents, meteorites, reading mystery books, and gardening among others. Future interests will include translating several collections of German short stories into English.

SMSI Minutes: 23 Mar 2002

"Spirits and Burning Churches, Calcite, and Quartz: A Hands-On Workshop and History of the Development of Polarized Light Microscopy" was presented by Bill Mikuska and Kendall Winter.

Karl Lambrecht gave an "ïn Memoriam" on his father Karl T. Lambrecht1903-2001. He was a major developer of calcite optical supplies. Bill Mikuska presented a history of the major thinkers in the development of polarization from 1669. Kendall Winter displayed various crystals and demonstrated left & right quartz crystals. The Macro visuals of the workshop (which can not adequately expressed in words) were impressive. Thanks to Kendall's prefab construction, all participants were able to make polariscopes and observe optical properties of various crystalline materials. Left & right Hackenkreutzen were seen between crossed polars thanks to Kendall's lapidary work with quartz crystals.