in construction…
Sound waves are longitudinal, meaning that the vibration occurs in the same direction as the wave’s propagation; light waves, on the other hand, are transverse, meaning that the plane of vibration is always perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Consequently, only light has an oscillation/vibration orientation, which is called polarization. What is alchemically relevant about this phenomenon?
The astronomical moon is the largest polarizing object known, and this is already alchemically relevant. Anyway, modern science does not go much further on the subject which was of a certain importance for the ancients, who, for example, understood that lunar spots were nothing more than depressions and hollows, that is, shadows. And therefore, the reflected sunlight could not be uniform. In fact, due to the roughness of the lunar surface, the reflecting object, that is, the sun, cannot be seen. We will see in another section how this lack of uniformity of the reflection will be important.
Then there’s the birefringent polarization of many gemstones. This phenomenon is very evident in crystals belonging to the silicate class, but also in quartz, which belongs to the oxide class.
Correct.