The Snowflake: Winter’s Frozen Artistry by Kenneth Libbrecht and Rachel Wing gives us all a close look at snowflakes, no matter where you spend your winters. And yes, there’s that cliché that snowflakes are unique and special and blah blah blah, but seriously, you probably had no idea snowflakes came in this many shapes and sizes. Thankfully the authors are well-placed to be your guides to the tiny world of snowflakes. Libbrecht is a physics professor at Caltech, where he studies ice crystal growth. Wing is a park ranger in Monrovia, California, and works with Libbrecht as a snowflake chaser.
When hunting for the perfect snowflake, the first thing to know is how they’re made. And in the book, Libbrecht and Wing include a handy guide. The below morphology diagram plots the main geometries based on temperature and humidity.
And finally, it’s time for the snowflakes themselves. We’ve included a few of our favorites in the gallery below. You can read more in the book, which was published this fall.
