You may not be aware of it, but polarized light is all around you. Do you have an LCD flat screen television, a laptop computer, a calculator, or other liquid crystal display? Well then, you have been exposed to polarized light. Light reflected from non-metallic surfaces such as water, a polished table top, and glass is also partially polarized as is the light scattered by the earth's atmosphere.
Generally speaking, the human visual system is not particularly adept at perceiving polarized light. While some animals, bees in particular, are quite sensitive to polarized light, humans usually find it difficult to detect it with the unaided eye. (see Haidinger's brush in Interesting Links) If you are not familiar with optics or the properties of polarized light, then you may have some questions such as…What exactly is polarized light? How does light become polarized? What are some practical uses of polarized light?