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Wilson A. Bentley

by Kaitlyn from Sulphur

Wilson Bentley photographing snowflakes. (www.snowflakebentley.com)
Wilson Bentley photographing snowflakes. (www.snowflakebentley.com)

In 1885, Wilson Bentley became the first person to photograph a single snow crystal, or snowflake. This first discovery would lead him to capture over 5,000 snowflakes, finding none of them alike. He never copyrighted any of his photographs, so they are in public domain, meaning they are free for any use.

Wilson Bentley was born in 1865 in Jericho, Vermont. He grew up on his family's farm, and was raised to learn how to be a farmer. Around the time when he was fifteen, Bentley became interested in snowflakes. He would look at them under a microscope that his mother had given him. At first, he tried to draw what he saw. He soon learned that the snowflakes were too complex, and melted too quickly to be drawn.

A picture of a snowflake taken by Bentley. (www.snowflakebentley.com)
A picture of a snowflake taken by Bentley. (www.snowflakebentley.com)

Bentley decided that he would try to capture a snowflake in a photograph. He experimented with attaching a bellows camera to his microscope. After many tries and failures, he finally captured a snowflake on January 15th, 1885. To do this, he caught the snowflake on a blackboard, then transferred the crystals onto sheets of black velvet. He had to work very quickly, because the snowflakes melted and evaporated.

Bentley would go on to capture ice and water formations such as clouds and fog. He and his photographs were featured in articles in magazines such as National Geographic, Nature, Popular Science, and Scientific American. His theory, that no two snowflakes are alike, was even challenged by Nancy Knight, a snow researcher.

On December 23, 1931, Wilson Bentley died on his farm. His cause of death was pneumonia. It is possible that he got this sickness from spending so much time in the cold while he was photographing water.

There are many websites and even DVD's dedicated to Wilson Bentley. He will always be remembered as "Mr. Snowflake," and his pictures will last forever.

Page created on 5/15/2006 1:57:57 PM

Last edited 5/15/2006 1:57:57 PM

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Related Links

Snowflake Bentley - The official website for Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley.