In Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche states: “All Life is a matter of taste and tasting.” Perhaps this explains why there are so many divorces, bar fights, wars, caustic verbal and written academic attacks on one academic by another. “If I agreed with you, then we’d both be wrong!” Artists and scientists, both amateur and professional, are also part of this rich pageantry which seems to arise from ineradicable elements deep in the human psyche. This also leads to lots and lots of secrets (as we shall see , even in the realm of amateur microscopy) and technology and politics seem incapable of functioning without massive numbers of highly guarded secrets. I’ve always found it ironic that politicians in this “free and open” society of the people find a need to have millions of documents that are TOP SECRET. Also, any technological, scientific, or medical breakthrough that might produce obscene amounts of money MUST be kept secret, otherwise we wouldn’t have any of those wonderful billionaires who like to play God (rather tawdry, hedonistic gods, however).

However, let us now consider amateur microscopists and I am going to focus on the production and photographing of chemical crystals. First, a general observation; in the late 18^th and 19^th centuries, specialty slide makers began to flourish and establish shops and some were fairly large and employed a number of workers. Special techniques, sources for prized, exotic specimens, and distinctive mounts all became protected secrets from competitors. Many of the more elaborate slides, such as diatom arrangements, were expensive and only the well-to-do could indulge in such purchases. Clients were also courted as they could determine the relative success of such an enterprise.

Even today, some microscopists both amateur and professional, are reluctant to share certain specialized techniques and, in the case of chemical crystal slides, the specifics of the mix of substances that produce certain patterns. Others, however, are incredibly generous with information and in providing suggestions to others for improving their images. Some have raised the creation of crystal images to the level of fine art.

Nonetheless, a cardinal rule, from my point of view, is that ultimately, one should work to develop ones own sensibilities regarding what succeeds in creating an image and what doesn’t. A basic recognition is helpful: the majority of ones images will have problems that make them questionable in terms of sharing. Sometimes, it’s lighting or color balance or using the wrong filter or finding that dust, hairs, or lint particles have landed on the slide; other times, it’s discovering that a particular combination of chemicals doesn’t work well or that you have prepared the slide improperly and get a mess of clumps.

Another thing to be aware of is that most of your results will not be reproducible. There are some chemicals and combinations that form pattern types and those can be very useful but, in general, you will find that if on Monday, you get a great result from a particular combination and then, on Tuesday, you go back to try to reproduce it, you will fail. However, you might even get something better, so don’t abandon hope. Nonetheless, what this means is that if you get a result you really like, get a picture of it. This is especially crucial with hydrophilic chemicals, such as, Calcium Chloride and that means that the specimen that you are viewing can change within seconds, so you need to be quick on the trigger finger for your camera.

Also, another crucial matter is thoroughly checking out the combinations of chemicals which you mix and any chemicals which you are considering heating. Some chemicals when heated are explosive or will give off obnoxious and dangerous gases. Combinations may produce vapors that are highly toxic such as chlorine or cyanide, so use the Chemical Safety Data Sheets or consult PubChem. You may think that the quantities you are using are so small that you don’t need to worry, but I would urge you never to make that assumption. CHECK CAREFULLY AND PROCEED CAUTIOUSLY! Ideally, a fume hood is a great benefit, but few amateurs can afford one.

I have been able to get small quantities of very good chemicals from Home Science Tools. [NOTE: This is not an endorsement. It’s simply that I have found them to provide quick shipping and quality merchandise. I have no connection to that enterprise nor do I receive any benefits from them.]

There are some basic chemicals that are quite accessible to beginners and are an excellent place to start.

Let’s consider a few of them.

1) Ascorbic acid–Also known as Vitamin C. It is best if you can buy a small bottle of Ascorbic acid crystals, which are not expensive. You can use a Vitamin C tablet, crushing it into a powder and then dissolving it in water. It is highly soluble, so you can make up solutions of a variety of strengths and see which give you the best results. In general, I find that fairly high concentrations work best for me. One can use cold or hot water and you may well get different results. Ascorbic acid typically produces fascinating disk-shaped crystals, Maltese crosses, and sometimes lattices of concentric circles which are rarely completely circular, but extend around a disk in interesting ways. If you can’t find any source of Ascorbic acid, then you could try using a bit of lime or lemon juice which will provide you with Citric acid as well as a bit of Ascorbic acid.

First, let’s take a look an image which is pure Ascorbic acid crystals; it forms a magnificent sunburst disk which might even serve as a shield in an ancient battle.

This one has vibrant colors which swirl in curves and form a radically modified Maltese cross.

This image is much busier with a feathery background around a distinctive heart which also contains a modified Maltese cross.

This next images forms a disk composed of multiple circles and looks rather like a rag or woven rug. These forms within forms are quite common in Ascorbic acid crystals.

This one is very busy indeed with multiple circles forming tubes and two wheel structures at the bottom which look like they are composed of rods or slats.

This last image of Ascorbic acid makes me think of a section of a very old tree.

2) Magnesium sulfate–Also known as Epsom Salts. You can buy a pound of it quite inexpensively at your local pharmacy or grocery store and, since you will only require a fairly small quantity, you can use the rest to soak your feet. This is again a substance which is quite soluble in both hot and cold water. It can produce irregular, sometimes roughly geometric crystals with wonderful color variation.

The next two images also have wonderful colors and shapes and are quite festive and, for some reason, make me think of circuses.

In addition to Epsom salts, medicine cabinets typically provide a range of substances that are potentially interesting. Aspirin, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Iodine, Toothache medication, expired prescriptions, etc. The kitchen can also be a source of material; items such as Cream of Tartar (Tartaric acid), Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda), deposits in the bottom of wine bottles, energy drinks, salt, sugars of various sorts, etc.

Here’s a look at two images of a generic, liquid toothache medication. The first image I see as three feathers spinning on a tightrope.

The second image is a strange beast from a zoo as conceived by Paul Klee.

I found in a bathroom drawer an expired antibiotic called Cephalexin, so I decided to see if it would produce any interesting crystals. You will see that it did and very different formations depending upon the location on the slide. These two images were both taken on the same slide but the first was near that edge of the formation, whereas the second was in the central part of the slide.

On the bathroom counter, I saw my bottle of Purell hand santizer and I began thinking–this stuff is 70% alcohol, so maybe as the alcohol evaporates, it might leave some nice crystals. I often try such eccentric ventures. This time it not only worked, but I was quite surprised at the rather surreal results. I’ll show you two images. It looks like some sort of strange pod has opened up allowing a miniature crystalline tree to spring up.

Salt (Sodium chloride) tends to produce pleasing geometric crystals and chlorides in general have proved interesting in my investigations. Potassium chloride can be found in salt substitutes, Magnesium chloride which can be found in certain ice melt salt mixtures, and Manganese chloride, which produces lovely little flower gardens. Some of the chlorides are a bit tricky to work with as they are hydrophilic and tend to pull in moisture from the air and so may not fully dry or remain stable on the slide.

You can try a variety of things with ordinary table salt, so I’ll show you an image of a different sort of salt mixed with Iodine, namely Potassium iodide. This produces some crystals which are quite like the geometric ones of table salt, but others which are rather different.

Since we’re looking at crystals that are more or less geometric, this is the perfect occasion to look at a range of Magnesium chloride crystals. This substance is often used in ice melt salts for sidewalks and streets in snowy areas like Laramie. The crystal is often very small and, as I mentioned above, tricky to work with since they are hydrophilic. I spent quite some time working with these wonderful little productions of Nature and I’ll show you seven images. I found that many of the forms reminded me of paintings of Mark Rothko during his abstract phase. (If you are interested in exploring this connection further, I wrote an article about it some time ago which you can find here:

The first one would, I think, make a lovely book cover.

For some reason, this next one makes me think of an art deco cigarette lighter (upside down, of course).

I especially like the colors in this one. Finding lines across these crystals, as is the case here, is not at all uncommon.

I’ll let you come up with a description for this one.

This one is clearly an avant garde card case.

With a fair frequency, strange little squiggily patterns occur on the surface of the crystals as you can see below.

This final one of the “Rothko series” is one of my favorites both for the colors and the vertical striping.

As promised a couple of flower gardens from crystals of Manganese chloride. These are quite remarkably consistent.

I have a penchant for giving descriptive names to those of my images which suggest some particular kind of shape, pattern, or animal, or scene. Some people don’t like this and think that the image should just stand for itself in isolated aesthetic wonder. In some instances, this is undoubtedly true, but there are many other cases where I have felt free to provide my eccentric input and, in some cases, even use the computer to enhance the image in ways that emphasize the content which I describe. For me, this is part of the fun of crystal making. Admittedly, a matter of taste. The images below involve an additional chemical called Copper acetate which produces some extraordinary effects. It has a deep blue color and often displays blade-like structures. However, it sometimes is also quite geometric as can be seen below.



First, I’ll show you two quite lovely seashells which are a combination off Copper acetate and Mercuroclear (the non-mercury version of Mercurochrome).





Finally, a mixture of a generic liquid toothache medication, Copper acetate, and Pseudoephedrine which is a nasal decongestant. This created sharks for me and I was pleased that I was not out swimming.





Well, this is long enough for an introduction to my unorthodox approach to crystal and polarization. I should mention that all of these images were produced with the use of polarized light and, in some cases, with additional color filters as well.

In a follow-up essay, I’ll present some more complicated combinations and describe more fully some of the ways of modifying images; that is, if I can overcome my laziness and get motivated to go back to my keyboard. In the meantime, experiment, but always do so carefully.

All comments to the author Richard Howey are welcomed.
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Editor's note: Visit Richard Howey's new website at http://rhowey.googlepages.com/home where he plans to share aspects of his wide interests.

 

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