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Polariscope
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This instrument, which the U.S. Military Academy bought from Lerebours in Paris in 1830, consists of a hollow brass tube (10.25 inches long) supported by a brass stand (10 inches high). At either end of the tube is a dark rectangular mirror that can be aimed in various directions. It demonstrates the phenomenon, found by Étienne Malus in 1808, that light can be polarized by reflection.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit linePolariscope. around 1830. Lerebours. National Museum of American History, U.S. Military Academy. CC0.
