Ruth MoratzThe Beautiful Bentley Snow Crystal Collection
September 26th 2008 05:26
Dendritic crystal taken in 1902
After two years of trial and error, Wilson Alwyn Bentley (Feb. 9, 1865 - 1933) at only 19 years old, took the worlds first photomicrograph of a snow crystal. He was born and raised on a farm in Jericho, Vermont and was known around town as the snowflake man.
He used a photomicroscopic camera which consisted of a camera and microscope. You can find a detailed explanation of how it works here.
The Buffalo Museum of Science's Bentley collection contains 8,908 glass Snow Crystal plates. Bentley took detailed notes on every picture he took including the weather conditions, type of crystal structure pictured, and meterological data.
Here are some of the snow crystals he captured.
taken in 1895
Taken in 1898
Taken in 1898
Taken in 1901
Taken in 1901
Taken in 1901
You can see the rest of the digital collection here.
Thanks to the Buffalo Museum of Science for the images and information.You can find a guide to the different types of snowflakes at Snowcrystals.com. They also offer instructions on how to grow and view your own snow crystals.
Here are some more recently taken photographs of snow crystals.
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