A definitive new investigation of the science of snowflakes by the world's leading expert

A snowflake's sophisticated symmetry emerges when crystalline ice grows from water vapor within the winter clouds. While certain iconic snowflake shapes are visually familiar to us, microscopic close-ups of falling snow reveal a rich menagerie of lesser-known forms, including slender needle clusters, hollow columns, bullet rosettes, triangular crystals, and exotic capped columns. What explains the myriad and unusual structures of snowflakes that materialize under different atmospheric conditions? In Snow Crystals, Kenneth Libbrecht delves into the science of snowflakes, examining why ice crystals grow the way they do, how patterns emerge, and what they illuminate about the fundamental physics of crystal growth, structure formation, and self-assembly.

世界先进专家对雪花科学的权威性新调查

当结晶冰从冬季云层中的水蒸气中生长出来时，雪花的复杂对称性就出现了。虽然某些标志性的雪花形状在视觉上为我们所熟悉，但落雪的微观特写显示了丰富的鲜为人知的形式，包括细长的针簇、空心柱、子弹头花环、三角形晶体和奇特的盖状柱。是什么解释了在不同大气条件下形成的无数不寻常的雪花结构？在本书中，肯尼斯·利布莱希特（Kenneth Libbrecht）深入研究了雪花的科学，研究了为什么冰晶以它们的方式生长，图案是如何出现的，以及它们对晶体生长、结构形成和自组装的基本物理学的启示。