analyzed by microscopy snowflakes appear in their wonderful and unique crystalline forms. Absolutely unique because, we know from childhood, there is a snowflake like any other. The snow is formed by the solidification of the vapor cloud at low temperatures. A certain relationship between the number of branches of the crystal and the temperature has been demonstrated the laboratory but the physical principle by which this process occurs is still a mystery. Among
the first to put forward a theory on the design of symmetrical snow crystals was Johannes Kepler in a short treatise written in 1611. Then Descartes tried to categorize many different forms of crystals in an essay on meteorology, but it is only with the invention of photography in 1931, the meticulous work of Wilson Bentley was able, through thousands of images collected, to uphold the concept that there is no snowflake the same as another.
Curated by Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology, one of the best photo galleries on the snow crystals, by clicking here .
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