The two Nicol prisms ( occasionally referred to as " nichols " ) of the petrographic microscope have their polarizing planes oriented perpendicular to one another.
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If two Nicol prisms are placed with their polarization planes parallel to each other, then the light rays emerging out of the first prism will enter the second prism.
13.
William Nicol developed the Nicol prism, which polarizes light, in 1827 & ndash; 1828 while studying fossilized wood; Henry Clifton Sorby showed that thin sections of minerals could be identified by their optical properties using a polarizing microscope.
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In association with the names of geologists grouped in this area, named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee ( UK-APC ) in 1971 after William Nicol ( 1770 1851 ), Scottish natural philosopher who devised the Nicol prism and the preparation of thin rock sections, thus contributing to the techniques of microscopy.
