Snow Crystals

by W J Humphreys, Wilson A. Bentley, W.J. Humphreys

Book Overview

"Offers valuable material not only to students of crystallography but also to those of the arts." -- The New York Times
Did you ever try to photograph a snowflake? The procedure is very tricky. The work must be done rapidly in extreme cold, for even body heat can melt a rare specimen that has been painstakingly mounted. The lighting must be just right to reveal all the nuances of design without producing heat. But the results can be rewarding,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486202879
• ISBN13: 9780486202877
• Release Date: June 1962
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.1" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

"Snow Crystals" is a blizzard of beauty

In case you are trying to decide between "Snowflakes in Photographs" and "Snow Crystals", both by Bentley and published by Dover, this book is the better deal. Ironically, you get twice as many snowflake photos in "Snow Crystals" than in "Snowflakes in Photographs". Both beautiful books feature stunning black and white photographs of snowflakes but this book definitely has better 'text' support. I bought the two books at the same time thinking that this one focused more on Bentley and the other one focused more on the pictures, but it was a mistake. This is a case of "you get what you pay for" and the only reason to buy "Snowflakes in Photographs" over this one is that it is a bit cheaper. Buy "Snow Crystals", it is a blizzard of beauty with gorgeous photographs of snowflakes, nature's fragile crystalline miracles.

Sheer art

This book is a collection of some of W. A. Bentley's finest snowflake photographs. At the beginning of the book is a 20-page introduction to the photography and science of snowflakes (as of 1930). The photographic advice is more of value today as historical documentation about how the pictures were taken- -we no longer use photographic plates or develop and fix our own negatives. The scientific section consists mostly of descriptive and classificatory commentary, with relatively little in the way of explanation as to why the snowflakes take on the shapes that they do. Some of the commentary cites specific plates as examples. The real value of the book is in the plates themselves- -two hundred pages of high-quality black and white photographs, depicting over two thousand differently shaped snowflakes. A reader could spend many hours poring over the magical snowflakes. In looking through the plates, it becomes clear quite quickly that Bentley was a man of genius and dedication.

A work of art

This book has 226 pages, most of which consist of black and white photographs of snow and ice crystals. You might think that photographing snow crystals is no different than photographing other inanimate objects, but it's not true. Obtaining high-quality photographs of snow and ice crystals takes great work and perseverance, and you don't just find a library of such things lying about anywhere. The book contains more than just photographs. Part one has some really interesting stuff on different techniques used throughout history for reproducing the images of snow and ice crystals, along with some very interesting descriptions about the preparation and effort that go into making high-quality photographic plates. This section also describes how the crystals are classified, and some meteorological background information about how these crystals form, and how their structure leads to other phenomena in nature, such as the rings you sometimes observe around a bright moon on a cold winter night. Part 2 is only a few pages long (compared with part 1, which is 20) and discusses related phenomena such as the frost on windowpanes, dew and frost, rime ice, and glaze. Most of the book (pages 24 through 226) consists of reproductions of photographic plates showing snow crystals, with examples also of ice, window-pane frost, dew and frost, and glaze. A typical page shows 12 snow crystals, so there well over 2,000 examples in this book of just about every six-pointed crystal you can imagine.Now for the really interesting part. You've heard that no two snowflakes are the same. Right? Well, read this book very carefully. I found two crystals in the book that are exactly alike (you have to look closely to match some small features because of differences in exposure - but they are there). Are they really two different snowflakes that look exactly alike? Or, was the image of one snowflake simply reproduced twice in the same book? Could it be that the authors have a sense of humor and could not help poking at the common assertion that "no two snowflakes are alike?" Who knows? But if the elegant geometry and art of nature inspires you with awe, then I'm sure you will find this book provides plenty of examples. Although Bentley and Humphreys did their work years ago, but their book is still a work of art.

A work of art

This book has 226 pages, most of which consist of black and white photographs of snow and ice crystals. You might think that photographing snow crystals is no different than photographing other inanimate objects, but it's not true. Obtaining high-quality photographs of snow and ice crystals takes great work and perseverance, and you don't just find a library of such things lying about anywhere. The book contains more than just photographs. Part one has some really interesting stuff on different techniques used throughout history for reproducing the images of snow and ice crystals, along with some very interesting descriptions about the preparation and effort that go into taking a high-quality photographic plates. This section also describes how the crystals are classified, and some meteorological background information about how these crystals form, and how their structure leads to other phenomena in nature, such as the rings you sometimes observe around a bright moon on a cold winter night. Part 2 is only a few pages long (compared with part 1, which is 20) and discusses related phenomena such as the frost on windowpanes, dew and frost, rime ice, and glaze. Most of the book (pages 24 through 226) consists of reproductions of photographic plates showing snow crystals, with examples also of ice, window-pane frost, dew and frost, and glaze. A typical page shows 12 snow crystals, so there well over 2,000 examples in this book of just about every six-pointed crystal you can imagine.Now for the really interesting part. You've heard that no two snowflakes are the same. Right? Well, read this book very carefully. On page 95 third row down, the first two crystals in the row are exactly alike (you have to look closely to match some small features because of differences in exposure - but they are there). Are they really two different snowflakes that look exactly alike? Or, was the image of one snowflake simply reproduced twice in the same book? Could it be that the authors have a sense of humor and could not help poking at the common assertion that "no two snowflakes are alike?" Who knows? But if the elegant geometry and art of nature inspires you with awe, then I'm sure you will find this book provides plenty of examples. Although Bentley and Humphreys did their work years ago, but their book is still a work of art.

Winter Classic

This book will amaze you. It has been in print for 65 years and the copy in our family comes out every holiday season and is greeted like an old friend. Writing and photo illustrations by W. A. Bentley. Reprint of the original 1931 edition. The first time I looked into this book and flipped through the pages, I was hooked. Over 2400 photographs of individual snow crystals! Categorized and compared in all their individuality. Gives meaning to "No two snowflakes are alike!" This is a gift for the gifted child in your life, written by a gifted child who spent his life in the single minded pursuit of recording the diversity and uniqueness of the amazingly ephemeral snowflake. I didn't know there was a hard cover edition. Go ahead and get it in hard cover. You are going to keep it a long time.