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snowflakes (~1998), I was struck by how few books there were on the subject. There was Wilson Bentley's
classic 1931 reference, and Ukichiro Nakaya's excellent 1954 text, but
little else. So I wrote a book all about snowflakes (The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty), collaborating with
Patricia Rasmussen on the photographs. And then I wrote another using
my own photos, and
then another, and several more after
that, some coauthored with Rachel Wing. As shown above, several have been translated into a variety of languages. Here are all ten...
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Snow Crystals: A Case Study in Spontaneous Structure Formation
by Kenneth G. Libbrecht
Princeton University Press, 2021 (and China Meteorological Press, 2026)
This 440-page tome describes the science of snow-crystal formation in
considerable detail, including the physics of ice crystal growth,
attachment kinetics, diffusion-limited growth, computational modeling,
experimental studies, and photographic techniques. There is also a
"preprint" version on ArXiv,
if you are really not inclined to buy the book.
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The Snowflake: Winter's Frozen Artistry
by Kenneth Libbrecht and Rachel Wing
In a nutshell, Rachel Wing and I tell the story of the snowflake
in this popular-science book.
We include some science, history, anecdotes, and lots of photographs.
We explain what snowflakes are and why they look like they do. We
describe the different types of snowflakes, laboratory-grown snowflakes, photographing snowflakes,
and how you can make your own snowflake "fossils" using superglue.
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The
Secret Life of a Snowflake
by Kenneth Libbrecht
This is a delightful children's book about snowflakes, but grown-ups
like it too!
It's a quick read, with lots of pictures and illustrations,
describing the basic science of snowflakes. It even shows you the
correct way to cut a six-sided snowflake out of paper! |
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The
Art of the Snowflake: A Photographic Album
by Kenneth Libbrecht
This is a large-format "coffee table" book of snowflake photographs,
filled with gorgeous photos of all kinds of snowflakes, with brief
descriptions and anecdotes along the way. This book is all
about capturing the beauty of these amazing crystals.
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Ken
Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes
This pocket-sized book describes all the
different types of snowflakes and snow crystals you are likely to find
falling from the clouds. Read this book and you will be a snowflake
expert. With just a simple magnifier and a quiet
winter snowfall, you too can see for yourself the amazing variety of
snowflake
forms! |
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Snowflakes
This "chunky" book (6.4 inches square, 512 pages) showcases a great many
photos of snowflakes, together with short descriptions, anecdotes, and
quite a few quotations about snow and winter. Basically it is a fun
gift book for just about anyone. |
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The
Little Book of Snowflakes
A petite gift book with snowflake photos and thoughtful quotations. |
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The
Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty
by Kenneth Libbrecht, with photos by Patricia Rasmussen
Out of print now, this was the first popular-science book focusing on
snowflakes. |
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Capturing Snowflakes
by Kenneth Libbrecht & Rachel Wing
Another gift book variant, this one sold with an included snowflake ornament.
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The
Magic of Snowflakes: A Postcard Book |
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