Viking Sunstone

Dec 06, 2009 11:03

Yesterday I was in the Golden lapidary and picked up something that was labeled "Iceland Spar Calcite," from Brazil. The oddness of the origin vs. the name aside, it was fascinating to play with due to its double refraction (basically it creates a double image of things viewed through it). After a bit of research, I found out that it has been hypothesized that the Vikings used this stone (called, to them, a "sun stone") to navigate on cloudy or foggy days due to its polarization properties.

There was this fascinating bit of research that indicated that it was at least plausible mechanism on cloudy and some foggy days. So while it is uncertain whether they did use the stone in such a way, it is at least possible to facilitate navigation using something that the stone provides.

rocks

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