Omega Optical Inc. by Michael C. Fink – thin film scientist, Kirk Winchester – astronomy product manager, Gary Carver, and Robert L. Johnson – president and technical director.It is now two hundred years since Étienne-Louis Malus, a French mathematician, discovered the polarization of light by reflection. Malus’s discovery was made using a birefringent mineral. Birefringence occurs when light of different polarizations travel at different speeds through a material. The result of looking through birefringent material is a double image because light of different polarizations is bent or refracted by different amounts. One such material that carries this property is a clear crystal from Iceland known as Iceland Spar. 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