Snowflakes are temporary works of art, tiny crystalline masterpieces, each as different from the next as one person is from another. If you would like to look closer at these marvelous creations - and understand their patterns - this handy, pocket-sized book will serve as your introduction to the art and science of the snowflake. .

Includes index.

Introduction to snowflake watching: -- Part I: Understanding snowflakes -- Snowflake fundamentals -- Morphology diagram -- Snowflake symmetry -- No two alike? -- Crystal faceting -- Branching instability -- Faceting versus branching -- Knife-edge instability -- Ridges, ribs, and rims -- Sublimation -- Rime -- Snowflake classification -- Origin of snow -- Part II: Field guide -- Hieroglyphics in ice -- Simple prisms -- Stellar plates -- Sectored plates -- Stellar dendrites -- Fernlike stellar dendrites -- Hollow columns -- Needles -- Capped columns -- Double plates -- Hollow plates -- Split plates and split stars -- Scrolls and Chandeliers -- Bullet rosettes -- Radiating plates and dendrites -- Sheaths -- Cups -- Triangular crystals -- Crystal twins -- Twelve-branched snowflakes -- Irregualr snowflakes -- Hoarfrost -- Part III: Observing snowflakes -- Manification -- Snowflake photography -- Finding snowflakes -- Lighting -- Index.