The physics of snow crystal formation is not entirely understood.
It is a complex process governed by the intersection of temperature and
humidity, but the reasons why certain crystals form are not well known.
Ken Libbrecht, a physicist at Caltech, studies snowflake
formation. His work was highlighted in an article in Smithsonian Magazine in 2013. The article describes
his process for creating “designer snowflakes” in his lab. Libbrecht has published
several books on the topic and has become an accomplished snowflake
photographer over the course of his career.
In the book, The snowflake : winter's secret beauty, Libbrecht
captures the beauty of snowflakes through science and photography. He describes
the physics of snow crystal formation and ice patterns in an easily digestible style and pairs this information beautiful with high resolution images.
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| SSEC 0062, pla hexagonal plate |
Libbrecht describes the early snowflake photography of
Wilson Alwyn Bentley in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in both the book and his interview from the Smithsonian article. Bentley
captured and photographed individual ice crystals and mounted them on glass
lantern slides. A set of these images (consisting of copies) was purchased by
the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the early 1900s and later donated to the
Schwerdtfeger Library where they were categorized, cataloged, and digitized.
These images are viewable and searchable online in the library’s Bentley
Collection.