"To watch the growth of a crystal is to witness a miracle; involuntarily we stand in awe before it, as a proof that of all truths mathematics is the most Divine and the most inherent in the universe.  The teacher will fail to make the best use of this lesson if she does not reveal to the child through it something of the marval of crystal growth....shows us a law of growth so exquisitely exemplified as to again make us glad to be part of a universe so perfectly governed." ~ Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study, pg. 751

 by W.A. Bentley

I was overjoyed to find information on crystals/snowflakes in the Handbook of Nature Study.  Oh please, read this section in her book (pgs. 751-752, 809)!  After reading through it I was so educated and inspired!  Just as with anything we have found in nature, mathematics and order can be found.

"Moreover, when crystals show a variation in numbers of angles and planes it is merely a matter of division or multiplication....Why should water freezing freely in the air so demonstrate geometry by forming, as it does, a star with six rays, each set to another, at an angle of 60 degrees?  And as if to prove geometry Divine beyond cavil, sometimes the rays are only three in number - a factor of six - and include angles of twice 60 degrees." ~ pg. 809

Most places we have read inform you that snowflakes are six-sided, there isn't any mention of some of them having three.  It was a odd thing then when a few days ago, before I read this, I took a macro photo of a snowflake that appeared to only have three.  A day later my older daughter and I both exclaimed "sometimes it has three rays" at the same time when we read the above and below passages.

"A snow crystal is a six-rayed star, yet sometimes it has three." ~  pg. 751

My 3-rayed snowflake photo

Here is another amazing sampling of what we read (in the section on how water forms):

"But the story of the water magic is only half told.  The cold brings back the invisible water vapor, forming it into visible drops; but if it is cold enough to freeze, then we behold another miracle, for the drops are changed to crystals.  The cool windowpane at evening may be dimmed with mist caught from the air of the room; if we examine the mist with a lens we find it composed of tiny drops of water.  But if the night be very cold, we find next morning upon the windowpane exquisite ferns, or stars, or trees, all formed of the crystals grown from the mist which was there the night before." ~  pg. 809

Remember this photo I took of our patio table?  Very cool stuff.

"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,'and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.' So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor." ~ Job 35:5-7

It is flurrying outside as I type this entry, we are forecasted to get up to three inches this evening.  Looks like I'm going to grab my camera and dark felt and get outside for a couple photos before it gets too dark.  Maybe I'll catch another 3-rayed snowflake.

With her permission, I'll leave you with a poem that my older daughter recently wrote after we read the above passages from the Handbook: