FMS = The Fluorescent Mineral Society = UVminerals.ORG

The Henkel Glossary of Fluorescent Minerals by Dr. Gerhard Henkel, Journal of the Fluorescent Mineral Society, volume 15 (1988-9), is the most exhaustive listing of fluorescent minerals known.   In 91 pages, it lists 566 mineral species and 59 related substances, plus entries for numerous variety, group, and alternate names.   For each substance, it gives the name, chemical formula (or composition), longwave UV fluorescence colors, shortwave UV fluorescence colors, and the number of localities reported from.

The Henkel Glossary is printed in small-book format for portability and is generally patterned after Michael Fleischer's 'Glossary of Mineral Species'.

Copies are available from the FMS for $18.50 postpaid. To order or obtain further information, use our contact form or write:

FMS - Henkel Glossary
PO Box 572694
Tarzana CA 91357, USA

Numerous books exist on mineral collecting, but only a relative few are authoritative on the subject of fluorescence.   Included here are selected references that are highly regarded by members of the FMS.

References are divided into the following categories:

 

Index of FMS Journal Articles

1972 - Volume 1

• Fluorescence Tests for Uranium and Some of Its Minerals — p.1 by George H. Schenk
• How Fluorescent Lamps Work — p.6 by General Electric
• Understanding Fluorescence in Minerals — p.9 by Frederick Kraissl, Jr.
• Minerals that Fluoresce in More Than One Color — p.11 by Don Newsome
• Spectroscopic Analysis of Fluorescent Minerals — p.13 by Mark Blazek
• Test Made of Wave Lengths — p.16 by The Mineralogist
• The Shortwave Ultraviolet Lamp in Scheelite Prospecting — p.19 by UVP

1973 - Volume 2

• Fluorescence of Uranium and Thorium Minerals — p.1
• The Selecting and Seasoning of Wood to Be Used under the Ultraviolet Light — p.10 by C.W. Smith
• Book Review ("Ultraviolet Guide to Minerals", by Sterling Gleason) — p.13 by Stan Foster
• The Red-Orange Fluorescence of Manganese-Containing Halites and Calcites, Properties and Composition — p.14 by George H. Schenk
• Quantitative Analysis of the Activator in Fluorescent Calcite — p.20 by Mark Blazek
• Which Mineral Has the Brightest Fluorescence? — p.31 by Don Newsome
• How to Improve Your Fluorescent Mineral Displays — p.39 by Frank J. Cole
• How to Put the Cool Light of Phosphors to Work for You — p.54 by L.H. Vogt, Jr.
• Questionnaires Shed a Little Light — p.63 by Ted Rutherford
• The Cover and Emblem — p.68

1974 - Volume 3

For effective display of fluorescent minerals, you will need darkness and a nonfluorescent setting.

For showing them at home, darkness is easily obtained.   But gem & mineral shows and such generally do not allow you to shut off the lights.   Short of setting up a tent in the exhibit hall, or getting space in an adjoining room where lights can be turned off, you need a mostly opaque box with some sort of viewing port.   It helps the exhibit if the viewer can see the minerals under shortwave UV, longwave UV, and visible light in turn.   This can be done with a timer that turns on first one then another lamp, or by providing switches or buttons for the viewer to select lamps with.

For public or prolonged displays, the person viewing the display should be protected from shortwave UV.   Ordinary types of glass will stop shortwave UV almost completely, so placing glass between specimen and viewer (not between specimen and lamp!) should be sufficient.   Take notice of which side of the glass is fluorescent and face it away from the UV light when shortwave UV is used.

A nonfluorescent background (including labels) is also needed to avoid 'competition' for the mineral fluorescence.   Bleached or brightly colored fabrics and papers, many plastics, and even some woods will fluoresce.   Black things (including minerals) rarely fluoresce; dull black fabric or paper, or wood painted dull black will generally be best.   Black is also good at minimizing the effects of any stray visible light that leaks in.

Light is a form of energy.   To create light, another form of energy must be supplied.   There are two common ways for this to occur, incandescence and luminescence.

Incandescence is light from heat energy. If you heat something to a high enough temperature, it will begin to glow. When an electric stove's heater or metal in a flame begin to glow "red hot", that is incandescence. When the tungsten filament of an ordinary incandescent light bulb is heated still hotter, it glows brightly "white hot" by the same means. The sun and stars glow by incandescence.

Luminescence is "cold light" that can be emitted at normal and lower temperatures. In luminescence, some energy source kicks an electron of an atom out of its lowest energy "ground" state into a higher energy "excited" state; then the electron returns the energy in the form of light so it can fall back to its "ground" state. With few exceptions, the excitation energy is always greater than the energy (wavelength, color) of the emitted light.

Well over 3600 mineral species have been identified at this time. Something over 500 of them are known to fluoresce visibly in some specimens. FMS members have assembled a list of web sites showing examples of fluorescent minerals and a database of locales of fluorescent minerals.

The FMS annually (or biennially) publishes the Journal of the Fluorescent Mineral Society, a technical publication.

We send out a UV Waves newsletter to our members every two or three months. A sample copy of the Jan/Feb 1996 UV Waves Newsletter is available for perusal online. (This is a 240k Adobe Acrobat PDF file.)

In 1993 we also published our initial FMS Advertising Supplement with ads from UV light manufacturers and dealers in fluorescent specimens.

The FMS promotes displays of fluorescent minerals, and sponsors projects related to ultraviolet lights and fluorescent minerals.   A past accomplishment of the FMS was organizing the 76-case fluorescent mineral displays at the 1996 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show.

The Fluorescent Mineral Society is an international organization of professional mineralogists, gemologists, amateur collectors, and others who study and collect fluorescent minerals. The society was founded in 1971 and incorporated in 1993.

The purpose of the Fluorescent Mineral Society is to bring together people who are interested in fluorescent minerals, and to introduce the public to the hobby of fluorescent mineral collecting. This purpose is pursued by promoting fellowship and educational activities, and supporting research that increases basic knowledge of fluorescence and fluorescent minerals.

We share knowledge and experience in collecting, identifying, and displaying minerals which exhibit various forms of luminescence including fluorescence, phosphorescence, triboluminescence, and thermoluminescence.

We organize seminars, research projects, displays at events, listings of dealers and permanent exhibits, exchanges of luminescent minerals, and we disseminate information about luminescent minerals.

We encourage interests related to fluorescent minerals such as photography of fluorescent specimens, the study of other luminescent minerals, and the various uses of ultraviolet lights.