The Wonder of Snowflakes

Have you marveled at the millions of delicate, featherlike flakes that fall during a snowstorm? Usually floating in the wind for an hour or more, each snowflake becomes a masterpiece of construction. Amazingly, no two have been discovered that are exactly alike, and there are enough possible combinations of patterns to suggest that there will never be such a discovery. Yet, all are six-sided in shape!

Why do all snowflakes have six sides or arms? “Lots of people have thought that there has to be some mechanical equivalent of somebody sitting at the center of the snowflake and telling all of them to do the same thing,” notes Dr. James S. Langer of the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, California.

Indeed, the more scientists study snowflakes, the more they appreciate, as The New York Times reported January 6, 1987: “Snowflakes obey mathematical laws of surprising subtlety.” Do you not agree that snowflakes are a tribute to the wisdom of their Maker? “For to the snow he says, ‘Fall earthward.’”​—Job 37:6.

[Picture Credit Line on page 31]

Snowflakes, Bentley and Humphreys