1. An apparatus for rapidly detecting and identifying microscopic particles for quantitative and qualitative measurement comprising the steps of: a) a polarized laser that produces a beam waist; b) an optical chassis including multiple light detectors, each light detector positioned around and oriented to view, without obscuration, a common region of regard of the laser beam waist; c) a sample chamber for containing a fluid sample to be analyzed; d) means for holding the sample chamber in a prescribed orientation with respect to the laser beam waist and in the common region of regard of the light detectors; e) means for causing the particles in the sample to circulate through the laser beam waist; f) means for covering the light source and optical chassis to create a dark enclosure; g) means for converting the light intensity values measured by the detectors into digital values; h) means for continuously entering the digital values into a computer; i) means for determining when a particle has entered the light beam at the common region of regard based on the digitized measurements; j) means for converting the digitized values to calibrated values; k) means for extracting Event Descriptors from the digitized and calibrated event data; l) means for calculating Discriminant Function values from the Event Descriptors; m) means for defining probability histograms that enable the calculation of the probability that a Discriminant Function value calculated from measured values was caused by a specific particle species; and n) means for identifying the unknown particle based on a threshold.