An enjoyable look at how snowflakes form and what forms snowflakes can take with a lot of photographs showing the large variety of snowflakes that can exist. ( )

The beauty of snowflakes brought to life by the genius of Kenneth Libbrecht. ( )

This is a great seasonal coffee table book. The Art of the Snowflake explains the science behind them, but the hook is the photography. There are hundreds of photos of different types of snowflakes in all their crystalline detail. ( )

"Summary: Beautiful pictures illustrate Kenneth Libbrechts story of the microphotography of snow crystals from the pioneering work of Wilson Bentley in the 1890s right up to Libbrechts own innovations in the age of digital images. This edition is a breathtaking look at works of art that melt in an instant. MBI"
Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht's snowflake microphotography captures real snowflakes in full color and incredible detail. See also by Libbrecht: The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty, and The Little Book of Snowflakes.
He also has a great website, www.snowcrystals.com ( )

As kids we were all told snowflakes were six-sided crystals and no two were alike. Most of us even made paper cutouts or drew snowflakes for winter school projects. But how often have we had the chance to actually see six points on a real snowflake? I lucked out just last month as they fell on my black wool coat. They were tiny, but clearly in their six-sided glory.

Kenneth Libbrecht has certainly seen his share of snowflakes. The California physics professor uses what he calls a traveling snowflake photomicroscope to capture images of the crystals fresh from the sky. He’s published a trio of books with amazing full-color closeup photographs. I used to think some of my classmates snowflake cutouts had a bit too much embellishment, but even they were not as complex as most of these beauties plucked from nature.

The Art of the Snowflake, published in large format, lets you see the snowflakes with a clarity you have probably never seen before. Many of the same photos are packed into a smaller package called The Little Book of Snowflakes. Both volumes are almost exclusively photographs with minimal descriptive text. The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty has much more text, and gives the reader a better idea how these amazing snow crystals come about.

By the way: The covers show what look like detailed drawings. Nope. Just some of Libbrecht’s remarkable photos.

Find more of my reviews at Mostly NF.