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Snow! We got our first real dumping of the season here in Boulder, Colorado yesterday (a 7-incher) and it’s as fluffy as snow can be. One of the most interesting things about snowflakes is how they’re nearly always formed in the shape of a hexagon, not unlike the wax comb made by bees.

According to Michael Schneider, author of the spellbinding art/math book, “A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe,”

Hexagons contain a message that efficient structure, function and order are occurring… The appearance of crystalline snowflakes is why scientists consider water a mineral. As the temperature drops, H2O molecules vibrate more slowly, slow enough for electric charges within each molecule to attract other molecules and tighten into a hexagonal, close-packed arrangement. More molecules build upon the seed pattern to become beautiful snowflakes, blanketing the world with six-fold symmetry.

I love this book so much, I’ve included a link below. It’s a thought provoking compendium of geometry, art and philosophy.

Another book you might enjoy is “Snow Crystals” by W.A. Bentley and W.J. Humphreys. It’s a picture book – hundreds of snow crystals – photographed in 1901 & ’02. You can check out some of the images here. They are mesmerizing.