Historical Studies on Snowflakes
Teachers can use these images to teach children about the history of snowflake exploration and to introduce snowflake science and snowflake illustration.
Select the thumbnail image to view the larger pattern.
Snowflake Scientific Explorers
- 1611 - German astronomer Johannes Kepler Wrote a short pamphlet entitled "Strena Seu de Nive Sexangula" (A New Year's Gift of Hexagonal Snow) in 1611 for a friend. Kepler wrote about the hexagonal symmetry of snowflakes and most efficient ways to package spheres. This treatis later became known as the Kepler conjecture. Kepler studied the snowflake very carefully and thoroughly even though he had said that to care for such a trifle was like Socrates measuring the hop of a flea.
- 1635 - Philosopher and mathematician René Descartes wrote an accurate description of snow crystal formation as seen with the naked eye.
- 1665 - English Polymath Robert Hooke published "Micrographia" which contained many images which could be viewed through the newly invented microscope.
- 1910 - Russian Meterologist Shuchukevich, while studying falling snow near Leningrad, noted 246 different types of crystals over a 176 day period.
- 1931 - American farmer and snow crystal photomicrographer Wilson A. Bentley photographed about 5,000 snow crystal images.
- 1954 - Japanese physicist Ukichiro Nakaya published a book entitled Snow Crystals: Natural and Artificial. He was the first person to perform a true systematic study of Shimo no hana [Frost flowers], or snow crystals by growing artificial snow crystals in the laboratory under controlled conditions.
- 1966 - Magono and Lee extend the Nakaya Snowflake Classification chart from 41 classes to 80. (Snowflake's Family album)
- French physicist Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan The Galileo Project
Visit Kenneth Libbrecht's Historic Snowflakes page for more information.
Snowflake Books, CD Rom and Web Sites
Early Snowflake Scientific Characterizations & Illustrations
Earliest Mentions of Snow Formation
- The first mention of the hexagonal form in relation to a snow crystal was made by Han Ying in 135 BC, in the publication "Hanshi waizhuan" (Moral Discourses Illustrating the Han text of the "Book of Odes").
"Flowers of plants and trees are in general five-pointed. However, flowers of snow, which are called ying, are always six-pointed."
- Twelfth Century philosopher Zhu Xi theorized why snowflakes are always six-sided when he wrote:
"The reason why snowflakes are six-pointed is because they are only half-frozen rain (xian) (i.e. water) split open by violent winds, and so they must be six-pointed. If one throws a lump of mud on the ground it will splash into a radiating, angular petal-like form. Now 6 is a yin number; and gypsum also is six-pointed with sharp prismatic angular edges. Everything is due to the number inherent in nature. "
- Wang Kui wrote in "Lihaiji" in c.1390:
"Snow is the ultimate (state) of yin and completely possesses the number of Water (i.e. 6). Every snow-flake is six-pointed. Frost and snow are due to the condensation of rain and dew. Water is is generatd by Metal. A surplus of qi reveals the Mother (i.e. Metal). Hence frost and snow are all white."
Earliest Mentions Source: Li, Qi and Shu: An Introduction to Science and Civilization in China Google Books online
