Product Description

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62064 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 156 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780760329979
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

Canada, November 2007

“From soft and delicate to sinister and gothic individual snowflakes are shown in the coffee-table book as truly wonderful creations of nature – especially when they’re photographed under the microscope by a certain physics professor from California who has a passion for them. This is the fourth and most artistic book on the subject by the author. And no matter what page you open it to, Libbrecht will have you mesmerized by the muster of such complex and symmetrical shapes that we all rely on as skiers.”

Star Tribune, Nov. 25, 2007

“Libbrecht, a name synonymous with snow crystal photography, again shows his mastery in this gorgeous book, proving many times over the old grade-school dictum that ‘no two snowflakes are ever alike.’ They’re certainly not, and here’s the beautiful proof.”

 

Bookwormsez syndicated column, December 2007

“The gorgeous book is the latest in the ‘Snowflake’ series of books that show the beauty of those microscopic little flakes of ice and the inadvertent art that nature gives each of them. This is a great book for anyone of any age.”

“This is a visual book about art, art flowing out of nature and a scientist’s eye to enhance that raw beauty. This WOW! Book straddles the worlds of art and science and should be on the shelves of everyone even remotely interested in the beauty of nature and of weather. With the holiday season fast approaching, I wholeheartedly recommend The Art of the Snowflake as a great gift that fits the season but lasts all year.”

 

www.forherinformation.com, November 2007

“This perfect cold-weather book showcases the beauty and grace of winter’s most fanciful decoration.”

From the Inside Flap
Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht's incredible snowflake microphotography captures real snowflakes in full color and incredible detail. His work has been hailed around the world by everyone from the National Geographic to the New York Times. His images have appeared on U.S. Postal Service stamps and in museum collections.

Now, his newest and best images are collected here, in The Art of the Snowflake, a photographic album that will amaze all.

Snowflakes appear literally out of thin air. They are born high above us within grey winter clouds, where the simple act of freezing turns formless water vapor into spectacular crystalline ice sculptures. They grow and develop as they drift slowly to Earth, where Libbrecht intercepts their fall and uses microphotography to capture these fleeting works of natural art.

As he states, "Photographing snowflakes is always enjoyable because there are so many different types, with no two exactly alike. Each new snowfall is another world to explore, and I still often find novel specimens. The snow may seem rather unvaried to the naked eye, but the microscope reveals an amazing menagerie of beautiful crystalline forms."

"The man is a doctor of snowflakes." --Chicago Tribune

"Libbrecht knows snow...both the science and beauty. Libbrecht is deeply immersed in the magnificent, marvelous, mysterious world of snowflakes." --Salt Lake City Deseret News

From the Back Cover
"I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design, and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost."

--Wilson Bentley (1865-1931), pioneer snowflake researcher and photographer

Snowflakes are indeed masterpieces of nature's art. In The Art of the Snowflake, Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht has collected his newest and best photographic images of snowflakes. His unique method of photography captures real snow crystals in color and unprecedented detail, unveiling their incredible patterns like never before. His images save the miraculous beauty of snowflakes for all to see.

If you are inspired by Mother Nature's glorious creations, The Art of the Snowflake takes you on a special journey into her winter's secret world of wonder.

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Customer Reviews

"The Art of the Snowflake: A Photographic Album", by Kenneth Libbrecht, Voyageur Press, MN 2007. ISBN-13-978-0-7603-2997-9. HC
This contemporary assemblage is an artwork of Love by Libbrecht, author of three prior books on snowflakes. He is Physics Professor at Caltech and provides eye-catching color photo-illustrations of over 400 snowflakes, many as full page images, all sharply detailed and on blue or crimson colored backgrounds, often illuminated by diverse light sources and spectra to best define architectural details of these tiny wondrous crystals forming from water vapor at freezing temperatures. It comes not as a surprize to learn he was from North Dakota.

In addition to snowflakes, the author describes associated particles called rime which may agglomerate into graupel or soft hail. The typical snowflake is a stellar snow crystal composed of a thin plate of ice with six (hexagonal) primary arms that regularly have sidebranches called stellar dendrites, hence appearing fern- or tree-like with no two identical (like fingerprints in Man). Infrequently, the flakes appear as six sectored plates sans dendrites whilst warmer temperatures may produce ice columns and/or needles, generally hexagonal, or appearing as peculiar capped columns with hexagonal wheels resembling tiny spools.

As a photographer, I would have liked the author to have included a brief synopsis of the equipment and technique he used to garner these photographs - i,e, the type of microscopic lens, magnifications needed, light sources, type of camera and film used (digital vs silver halide). However, this book is on the Art of the Snowflake, and not a how-to book. The author indicates some digital editing was done to remove minor blemishes, etc., and based on the huge number of photos taken I'd conclude digital camera and sensor was used. This book is an informative read, is great stock for the coffee table, and is perhaps an inviting holiday seasonal gift this Winter.

High quality novelty, thought-provoking
Since several other reviewers have described this book, and the topic is self-evident, I want to emphasize what a high QUALITY book this is. As a coffee-table size hardback, many of which today are so cheaply made, this one is MADE really well, a pleasure for that alone. Good quality binding and excellent color reproductions. And who would have thought such a simple subject could remain fascinating for over 150 pages! Really worth the price, esp. with the Amazon discount.

Beaufiful coffee table winter book
Beautiful, full page color pictures of so many kinds of snowflakes. There is also interesting written material about formations and weather related issues. Did you know you can grow snowflakes? With the right information. I will never be able to think snow and mud belong in the same category again.