Snow Crystals

We all have heard that no two snowflakes are alike. But did you ever stop to think about how this discovery was made? I never gave this much thought until a visit to Vermont a few years ago. A tour guide recommended a visit to the snowflake museum. A snowflake museum?! How intriguing!

William A. Bentley (1865-1931) was born in Jericho, Vermont. He dedicated his life to the study of snow, frost and rain.

During his lifetime, he took over 5,000 images of snowflakes. Because of this dedication, William Bentley soon became known as "Snowflake Bentley".

To do his work, a camera was attached to a microscope and the resulting image is called a photomicrograph. Due to the fragile nature of a snowflake, this work was done in an environment that equaled the temperature where the snowflake was recovered.

As a memento of the visit to the museum, I purchased a book that contains almost half of the images captured by Mr. Bentley. You might enjoy viewing a few pages.

Mr. Bentley used the name SNOW CRYSTALS

in his work rather than snowflakes,

thus the name of the book. 

All snowflakes are six-sided hexagons.
We don't typically see smooth hexagons

and think of snowflakes

but these are common snow crystal shapes.

Images on these pages almost look like triangles.

 But closer inspection shows

the corners are flat rather than pointed

so these meet the six-sided requirement of a hexagon.  

With six rounded petals,

these images could be called ice flowers!

The final photo shows the variations

of the pointed-star shape

traditionally associated with the image of a snowflake.

Snowflakes by Linda A. Copp

Snowflakes spill from heaven's hand

Lovely and chaste like smooth white sand.

A veil of wonder laced in light 

Falling Gently on a winters night. 

Graceful beauty raining down

Giving magic to the lifeless ground.

Each snowflake like a falling star

Smiling beauty that's spun afar. 

Till earth is dressed in a robe of white

Unspoken poem the hush of night.

Joining these lovely parties this week:

Bunny Hop at Bunny Jean's Decor and More

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Until next time, live and love well.

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.