Sunday 6 December 2009




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Wilson A. Bentley
The Snowflake Man
"Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind."

Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley 1925



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From the earliest memories of our childhood, many of us can remember hearing the phrase "no two snowflakes are alike". This discovery was made in the small rural town of Jericho, Vermont by Wilson A. Bentley (1865-1931).

A self educated farmer, Bentley attracted world attention with his pioneering work in the area of photomicrography, most notably his extensive work with snow crystals (commonly known as snowflakes). By adapting a microscope to a bellows camera, and years of trial and error, he became the first person to photograph a single snow crystal in 1885.

He would go on to capture more than 5000 snowflakes during his lifetime, not finding any two alike. His snow crystal photomicrographs were acquired by colleges and universities throughout the world and he published many articles for magazines and journals including, Scientific American and National Geographic.

In 1931 his book "Snow Crystals", containing more than 2400 snow crystal images, was published by McGraw-Hill but has long been out of print. A soft cover copy, identical in all respects, can be obtained today from Dover Publications, Inc.. On December 23, 1931, Bentley died at the family farmhouse in Jericho. Because of his wonderful work with snow crystals, he became affectionately known as "Snowflake" Bentley.


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11 comments:

  1. What a lovley post. I hope you are feeling calmer. We are going to make paper snowflakes next week - no two will be alike, no two will look like snowflakes!!

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  2. how lovely. We did the snow scene from 101 Dalmations for the pre school carnival float when DD was four... hundreds of cut paper snowflakes... so pretty and... we won best in class !!!

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  3. What an interesting and educational post! Almost as interesting as my naked Santas!!! I promise there are no more! XXX

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  4. V interesting post, thank you! When I first attempted quilting many moons ago I came across http://www.paulanadelstern.com/ and was fascinated by her ability to make fabric snowflakes, I think I still have the book somewhere! M

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  5. very interesting. I have a question though, why the two blogs?

    Gill in Canada

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  6. Original post, fascinating really. Thank you!

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  7. What a lovely piece of information and love the concept of 'snow crystals'!

    I want to make some too.

    A.x

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  8. found out about Bentley when I volunteered and did art projects with children some years ago ... I find him fascinating along with the beauty he captured! Very inspirational!
    Take care Penny!
    oxo

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  9. My oh my, what an interesting post. Loved it! Loved some of the comments too, particularly "Themadhouse" one and am going to HAVE to go over to Tracey to find out what the comment about naked santas was about..............

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  10. I think there is a contemporary snowflake photographer now. His photos were used on US Christmas postage a few years back. Just incredible how perfect snowflakes look, for real!

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  11. Isn't it funny how we repeat certain phrases ("no two snowflakes are alike") and have no idea the origins of the phrase? What a great story, thanks!

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