The snow may seem unvaried to the naked eye, but the microscope reveals an amazing menagerie of beautiful crystalline forms. Building on the pioneering work of Wilson Bentley (1865-1931), Libbrecht has developed techniques for capturing images of snow crystals in unprecedented detail. While wondering at the hundreds of exquisite snowflake portraits, find:

• The science behind snowflakes, including how they form on a molecular level and the complex process that guarantees each one's uniqueness
• Field notes from Libbrecht's photographic expeditions to the frozen north
• The taxonomy of snowflakes and examples of each type: simple plates and prisms, columns and needles, capped columns, sectored plates, stellar plates, stellar dendrites, triangular crystals, double plates, split plates, split stars, and even rare twelve-branched snowflakes
• Quotations about the wonder of snowflakes and nature from Aristotle, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and more