1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy D. Wilson. And Tracy. 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: I bet you were taught as a kid in science class, 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: probably pretty early on. That's all. Snowflakes are unique and 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: there are no two exactly the same. Yeah. I think 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: it was so early that science was not a separate class, right, 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: It was science together like kindergarten. And then we would 9 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: like fold the paper into little shapes and cut it 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: out and then unfolded and it would be our own 11 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: unique snowflake. There you go. Uh. Today, we're going to 12 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: talk about the origin of that by sharing the story 13 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: of Wilson Bentley, who was a farmer meteorologist who became 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: known to many during his lifetime as the snowflake Man. 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: I'm glad you picked this because I fund it interesting 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: and and I got to look at pictures of snowflakes. 17 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: So Bentley was born Wilson Alwyn Bentley on February nine, 18 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: eight sixty five, and Jericho, Vermont. Living in the farmhouse 19 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: where the Bentley's lived. There were Wilson and his brother Charles. 20 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: Their parents, Edwyn and Fanny Bentley, and their grandparents on 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: Edwin's side, Shelley and Abigail Bentley. Shelley and Abigail had 22 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,480 Speaker 1: owned the property and then they had turned it over 23 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: to Edwyn when he was ready to start a family, 24 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 1: on the condition that he kept housing and caring for 25 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: his parents. So, while Wilson was still a boy, his 26 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: grandparents moved to another house down the road, and two 27 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: have Edwin's relatives, Mary and Melissa Blood, moved in. Wilson's 28 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: brother Charles, married Mary Blood when she was still just 29 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: a child of twelve herself. Yeah, we should also point 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: out that there is there are question marks about Mary 31 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: and Melissa and their relationship to the family because they're 32 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: often kind of casually referred to as cousins or distant relatives. 33 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: But it also seems like they may have been just 34 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: kind of like close friends of the family who had 35 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 1: fallen on hard times and needed a place to live, 36 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: and so they kind of got adopted into the family 37 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: unofficially um and got called cousins, but they were not. 38 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: They may not have been blood relatives at all. But 39 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: the area where the Bentley's lived was on the east 40 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: side of Jericho. It was close to Bolton Mountain and 41 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: it was serviced by a one room schoolhouse. But Wilson 42 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: Bentley did not go to school as a child, do 43 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: in some part to it just being difficult to actually 44 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: get to the school building for a lot of the 45 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: time during the year because of inclement weather where they lived, 46 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: but that does not mean he went without an education 47 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: thanks to his mother, who was an educator. According to 48 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: Bentley's own account, quote, I never went to school until 49 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,839 Speaker 1: I was fourteen years old. My mother taught me at home. 50 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: She had been a school teacher before she married my father, 51 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: and she instilled in me her love of knowledge and 52 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: of the finer things of life. She had books, including 53 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: a set of encyclopedia. I read them all. He also 54 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: learned to play piano, clarinet, coronet, and violin from his mother, 55 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: and he played music his whole life and really loved it. 56 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: Bentley's mother is also the person who gave Wilson his 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: first microscope, essentially setting the stage for his life's work. 58 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: That microscope was old. It was one that had been 59 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: part of her science lessons when she was still teaching, 60 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: and she gave it to her son, who was ever 61 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,119 Speaker 1: more curious about nature, and like a lot of kids 62 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: who get to play with microscopes, he just started putting 63 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: everything he could find under its lens, from flower pedals 64 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: to feathers to water. But even at that early age 65 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: fifteen by Bentley's recollection, what he really wanted to look 66 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: at was snowflakes. He would later write quote, when other 67 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: boys of my age were playing with pop guns and slingshots, 68 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: I was orbed in studying things under the microscope. Drops 69 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: of water, tiny fragments of stone, a feather dropped from 70 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: a bird's wing, a delicately veined petal of some flower. 71 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: But always from the beginning, it was the snowflakes that 72 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: fascinated me. Most the farm folks up in this north 73 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: country dread the winter, but I was supremely happy from 74 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: the day of the first snowfall, which usually came in November, 75 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: until the last one, which sometimes came as late as May. 76 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: As a team, he started taking the microscope to the 77 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: outermost room of the family farmhouse, which stayed very cold, 78 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: so he could look at ice crystals there. So we're 79 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: going to do a quick word here on the term 80 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: snowflake versus snow crystal or ice crystal. They all often 81 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: get used interchangeably, but the six sided shapes that we 82 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,799 Speaker 1: all kind of vernacularly called snowflakes are really snow crystals, 83 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: and many snow crystals can make up a snowflake. They 84 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,679 Speaker 1: clump together as they fall and then some times break 85 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: back apart. But snowflake can also still be used to 86 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: describe a single snow or ice crystal, and this is 87 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: something Bentley came to realize as he studied frozen precipitation 88 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: and snow crystals, of course, to be clear, are not 89 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: frozen rain, that is sleet. They are snow crystals formed 90 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: when water vapor becomes ice without passing through a liquid 91 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: water stage. Wilson observed all of this, but he didn't 92 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: just observe. He took detailed notes, and he drew snow crystals. 93 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: He knew that he was probably getting the details wrong, though, 94 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: and that frustrated him. Ice crystals being what they are, 95 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: they also melted before he could look at them again 96 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: and revise his sketches to make them more accurate. He 97 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: would try to hold his breath during his observations and 98 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 1: his sketching so that he wouldn't melt the things he 99 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,039 Speaker 1: was trying to draw sometimes though he would exhale and 100 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: have to end that whole study accidentally. I can't imatione 101 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: one the tenacity that this requires him to the frustration 102 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: in those moments when you just let your breath go 103 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: because you can't hold your breath forever. Yeah, And then 104 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: you know, anytime I need to not breathe for some reason, 105 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: that's when I want to breathe so bad. For sure. 106 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: It becomes like a panic inducer for me. Um Wilson's 107 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: father was never especially enthused about his son's scientific pursuits. 108 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: He was a farmer, and he expected that Wilson would 109 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: follow suit. Even so, when Wilson learned about the possibility 110 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: of a camera that might be able to take photographs 111 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: through a microscope, he and his mother made the case 112 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: to Edwin Bentley that they needed one, and he ultimately 113 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,559 Speaker 1: acquiesced to that request. And this was to be clear 114 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: a big investment. According to Wilson Bentley's later in life 115 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 1: writing quote, when I was seventeen years old, my mother 116 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: persuaded my father to buy for me the camera and microscope, 117 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: which I have developed into the apparatus I am still using. 118 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: It cost even then one hundred dollars. You can imagine 119 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: how my father hated to spend all that money on 120 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: what seemed to him a boy's ridiculous whim. Something to 121 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: note here is that while the elder Bentley okayed the 122 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: acquisition of this equipment, Wilson was in no way absolved 123 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: of any of his duties on the farm. He could 124 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: pursue his snowflake studies, but he could not shark any 125 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: other parts of his work, and this held true for 126 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: the whole time he was doing this research and doing 127 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: experiments with photography. But Wilson Mentley was still a teenager 128 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: at this point. He had never taken a photograph in 129 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: his life when he had this new camera, and his 130 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: work with the microscope was largely self directed, with some 131 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: pointers from his mother. If you have ever gotten really, 132 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: really excited about a new technology or a hobby and 133 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: bought a bunch of expensive equipment, only to realize you 134 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: have no idea you what to do with it, you 135 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,119 Speaker 1: are kind of where Wilson Bentley was in the early 136 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties. I'm just gonna say I don't know what 137 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: that's like at all. I was just thinking about how 138 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: I have a little point and shoot camera that has 139 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: all kinds of settings that I like. I thought I 140 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: was going to learn how to use them all, and 141 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: I've learned none of them. I just used the automatic one, 142 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: which at this point is effectively the same as my phone. 143 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: See this made me think of when I got my 144 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: embroidery machine and then was like, I need a bunch 145 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: of software to do custom designs. And then I was like, okay, 146 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: now what Slowly you figure it out. Although he may 147 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: have been initially overwhelmed and probably disheartened by a lot 148 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: of disappointments early on, he kept at it. He worked 149 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: through trial and error to figure out how the camera 150 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 1: worked and how he could actually take photos of microscopic things. 151 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: Because he approached it this way, though, he started to 152 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: understand the camera and his microscope and the behavior of 153 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: the ice crystals with incredible depth of expertise. He figured 154 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,839 Speaker 1: out a way that he could collect the snow crystals 155 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: on a black board outside and then move inside carefully 156 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: with the ones he had collected, and then he used 157 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: a chicken feather, something that was very abundant on the farm, 158 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: to very carefully move the snow crystal that he wanted 159 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: to look at onto a plate and under the microscope. 160 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: One of the problems was simply a matter of size, 161 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: not of the snowflakes, but of the camera. The camera 162 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:47,839 Speaker 1: that Bentley had purchased was a Bellows camera. That's one 163 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 1: of the ones that has like an accordion between the 164 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,320 Speaker 1: length part and the back part if you're having trouble 165 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: visualizing it. He had to position the microscope at one 166 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: end and then step around to the other side of 167 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: it to see through the viewfinder. But if he was 168 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: looking through the camera and needed to focus the microscope, 169 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: he could not do both of that at the same time. 170 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,319 Speaker 1: The length of the Bellows was longer than the distance 171 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: of his arm that he could reach. So to solve 172 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: that problem, Bentley came up with a way to attach 173 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: the fine focused mechanism of the microscope to a wheel 174 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: and pulley that he could manipulate from the other end 175 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: of the camera while still seeing the image. It's pretty ingenious. 176 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: His first successful photo micrograph was made on January five 177 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: during a snowstorm. Bentley, who was just shy of his 178 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: twentieth birthday, was elated, and he later wrote of that 179 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,440 Speaker 1: moment quote the day that I developed the first negative 180 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 1: made by this method and found it good. I felt 181 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: almost like falling on my knees beside that apparatus and 182 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: worshiping in it was the greatest moment of my life. 183 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: The first picture of a snowflake had been made. It 184 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: had taken Bentley four years to figure out exactly how 185 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: to do it, so most people would probably want to 186 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: scream about that kind of achievement from the rooftops. But 187 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,960 Speaker 1: Bentley was not like most people we'll talk about when 188 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: he decided to share his photo micrograph work after a 189 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: quick word from a sponsor. So, as we mentioned before 190 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 1: the break, Wilson Bentley had taken the first photograph of 191 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: a snowflake, but he did not immediately share his work, 192 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: not even close. It was another thirteen years before anyone 193 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: even heard about it. But during those thirteen years he 194 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: was incredibly busy. He worked during that time to capture 195 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: more images, more than four hundred, but he also started 196 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: composing a data record of not just the ice crystals 197 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: he had observed, but also meteorological data like storm severity 198 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: and timing, trying to see if there was a pattern 199 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: that would link the characteristics of the ice crystals he 200 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: observed with the nature of the storm that had delivered them, 201 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: and he was really doing this, it seemed just out 202 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: of sheer curiosity and enthusiasm for it. He didn't think 203 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: he was doing anything that was especially groundbreaking, and kind 204 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: of presumed that anything he found had already been studied 205 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: by scientists and scholars, and he certainly wasn't making any 206 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: money at it. He just loved it. This level of 207 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: devotion to something with no bigger plans for the pursuit 208 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: may seem odd. It certainly did to people who knew Wilson. 209 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: He was generally considered odd or eccentric by pretty much everyone. 210 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: One story told by a fellow villager was that as 211 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: a prank, a bunch of boys switched the wheels on 212 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: Bentley's buggy so that the front wheels were the big 213 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: ones and the back ones were small, instead of the 214 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,839 Speaker 1: normal way, which was the other way around. They were 215 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: even more amazed when Bentley showed no reaction to this 216 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: and just drove a buggy home and never mentioned it. Uh. 217 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: It's not clear whether he didn't notice or just ignored it. Yeah, 218 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: just an illustration of how he was a little bit different. 219 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: But though people found him strange, he was also generally 220 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: well liked because he was a very kind, quiet young man, easygoing, witty, 221 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: and friendly, despite the fact that he was also a 222 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,680 Speaker 1: bit of an introvert. He loved to play piano for 223 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: the kids in the community, and he played cornet in 224 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: a brass band. And because Jericho was a very small community, 225 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 1: everyone knew about his fascination with precipitation in Bentley's collection 226 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: of snow crystal photographs, which totaled more than four hundred, 227 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: was purchased by the Harvard Mineralogical Museum, and that same 228 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: year a professor at the University of Vermont named George 229 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: Perkins heard about Wilson Bentley in his obsession with ice crystals. 230 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: He had seen the photographs and was amazed. But Bentley 231 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: had never written about his work, at least never successfully. 232 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: He had made one attempt, but that had fallen flat. 233 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: Writing skills were just not the best, and he never 234 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: tried again. But George Perkins took Wilson's notes and turned 235 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: them into an article that was published in Appleton's Popular 236 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: Science monthly, and the two men shared a byline on it. 237 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: And that article ends with a paragraph that, well, it 238 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: may have been helped along by Perkins is very much 239 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: in the style of writing that Bentley's later papers would 240 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: show really for the rest of his life. It is 241 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:37,239 Speaker 1: a very sweet and wonder laden commentary on snow crystals, 242 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: which reads quote, there is no surer road to fairyland 243 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,359 Speaker 1: than that which leads to the observation of snow forms. 244 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: To such a student, the winter storm is no longer 245 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: a gloomy phenomenon to be dreaded. Even a blizzard becomes 246 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: a source of keenest, enjoyment and satisfaction as it brings 247 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: to him from the dark, surging ocean of clouds forms 248 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: that thrill his e your soul with pleasure. This was 249 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: the first of many articles, papers, and books that he 250 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: went on to write. Once he realized he could share 251 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: what he was doing, it was like he couldn't stop. 252 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: And his photographs had been made into an exhibition at Harvard. 253 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: Suddenly he had the attention of a lot of people. 254 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: He wrote regularly for the monthly Weather Review and other publications, 255 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: always intertwining his scientific observations with this poetic style of writing. 256 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: The first years of the twentieth century were very productive 257 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: for Bentley. In nineteen o one, he published an article 258 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: titled twenty Years Study of Snow Crystals that established a 259 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: lot of ideas about snow and ice that were way 260 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: ahead of their time. One of the most significant aspects 261 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: of its contents was Bentley's observation that in all of 262 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: the snow crystals he had observed, he had never seen 263 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,479 Speaker 1: to that were alike. He also stated that in his observations, 264 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: the western and northwestern areas of storms produced the most 265 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: perfect crystals. He also explained how he had come to 266 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: the conclusion that conditions aloft were more important and influential 267 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: to the formation of snow crystals than conditions closer to 268 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: the Earth. That same year, Bentley had an exhibition of 269 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: his photographs at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. 270 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: Then just a month later, his work was featured in 271 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: the quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society in England. 272 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: So you may be wondering what does a person this 273 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: obsessed with weather created ice crystals do when it is 274 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: too warm for those to form. He studies precipitation in 275 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: its liquid form. It turns out, at least that's what 276 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: Bentley did, just as he had wondered what caused ice 277 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: crystals to form in snow. He started investigating how rain 278 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: actually formed in He started by trying to measure rain 279 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: drops that He did this in a really inventive way. 280 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: There were already some scientists measuring the splashes that raindrops 281 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: left when they hit a piece of paper or some 282 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:05,199 Speaker 1: other surface, but Bentley started using flower. He spread the 283 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 1: flower evenly across a tray and then passed that tray 284 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: through the rain. As a rain drop hit this inch 285 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: deep flower layer, it would form a tiny ball of 286 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: simple dough. When those little drops of dough dried, he 287 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: measured them to figure out the size the raindrop had been. 288 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: He performed control experiments to compare by dropping measured amounts 289 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: of water onto the flower himself, so that he had 290 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: an existing data set to use. This is so ingenious. 291 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:39,679 Speaker 1: I like to go, oh, I can create a set 292 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,199 Speaker 1: and then I'll have that as my comparative measure. That 293 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: just seems brilliant to me. Um And He measured hundreds 294 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: of rain drops over the next seven years, culminating in 295 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 1: an article in the Monthly Weather Review. The largest raindrops 296 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 1: that he measured were roughly six millimeters. It's very roughly 297 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: a quarter inch in diameter and He noted that, just 298 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,440 Speaker 1: as was the case with snowflakes and snow crystals, different 299 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: types of storms created different types of rain. In particular, 300 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: he observed that when lightning was overhead, there was a 301 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: greater frequency of large rain drops. Even though he was 302 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: doing a lot of really groundbreaking work, in terms of 303 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:18,719 Speaker 1: the reception from the scientific community, he got a lot 304 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: of silence, and he probably would have liked any kind 305 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: of feedback, even if it was critical. We don't know 306 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: for sure why so few scientists even to acknowledge what 307 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: he was doing. I mean, we've talked before about like 308 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: the scientific establishment being really reluctant to people they perceived 309 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: as amateurs. But at this point in history, most people 310 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:44,719 Speaker 1: were amateurs. So uh, people knew what he was doing, 311 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: and it seemed kind of strange that there wasn't a 312 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,440 Speaker 1: lot of engagement from that quarter. It could have been 313 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,440 Speaker 1: a matter of his outsider status, Like I just said, 314 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,960 Speaker 1: nobody knew who this farmer from Vermont was, or how 315 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: or why he had started studying meteorology, you with no 316 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: formal schooling. Biographer Duncan Blanchard theorized that it could also 317 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 1: have been the way that Bentley wrote about his work 318 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: was not always really scientific in its tone. It really 319 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: retained the wonder and the delight that Bentley felt for 320 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: the natural world, and that may have led to it 321 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,680 Speaker 1: not being taken very seriously. But because of that, he 322 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: was really forging ahead in an understanding of his subjects 323 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,439 Speaker 1: with no collaborators. He was breaking this new ground by himself, 324 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: even though nobody else is really watching. And here are 325 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: a couple more examples to illustrate what we're talking about 326 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: when we say that Bentley wrote about his work in 327 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: ways that were decidedly unlike the scientific community. In an 328 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,919 Speaker 1: article that he wrote for Technical World in nineteen, it 329 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: opens with the lines quote, what magic is there in 330 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: the rule of six that compels the snowflake to conform 331 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,880 Speaker 1: so rigidly to its laws? Here is a gem bestrewn 332 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: realm of nature, possessing the charm of mystery of the unknown, 333 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: sure richly to reward the investigator. It's very sweet, not 334 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,199 Speaker 1: super scientific sounding. Uh. And he ended that same article, 335 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 1: which was titled snow Beauties, by writing quote, Indeed, it 336 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 1: seems likely that these wonderful bits of pure beauty from 337 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 1: the skies will soon come into their own and receive 338 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: the full appreciation and study to which their exquisite loveliness 339 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 1: and great scientific interest entitled them. Even A more technical 340 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:33,880 Speaker 1: article that Bentley penned in two to explain his photographic 341 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 1: process gets a bit flowery quote. Every snowflake has an 342 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: infinite beauty, which is enhanced by knowledge that the investigator will, 343 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: in all probability never find another exactly like it. Consequently, 344 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: photographing these transient forms of nature gives to the worker 345 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,360 Speaker 1: something of the spirit of a discoverer. Besides combining her 346 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: greatest skill and artistry in the production of snowflakes, nature 347 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: generously fashions the most beautiful specimens on a very thin plane, 348 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:08,440 Speaker 1: so that they are specially adapted for photo micrographical study. 349 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: In just a minute, we are going to delve into 350 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 1: something we haven't really touched how much yet, and that 351 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: is Wilson Bentley's personal life. But first we will pause 352 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: for a sponsor break. As Wilson Bentley was doing all 353 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: of this research and writing, he was still also working 354 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: the family farm. His father died in seven and at 355 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: that point his mother was largely immobile and needed a 356 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: great deal of care, and that care just became part 357 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: of Wilson's responsibilities. He cooked for her and took care 358 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 1: of her until her death in nineteen o six. His 359 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 1: brother Charles, after a brief foray into growing oranges in 360 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:55,119 Speaker 1: Florida that ended in disaster with a freeze, had also 361 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,879 Speaker 1: returned to Vermont and helped run the family farm after 362 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: that point, and the farmhouse had basically been split into 363 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 1: two years earlier, when an addition had been made after 364 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: Charles and Mary got married and after their parents were gone. 365 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: Wilson lived on one side and his brother, his sister 366 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: in law, and their eight children lived on the other. 367 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 1: While an entire space to one person seems like it 368 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: would be the less chaotic household, Bentley was apparently kind 369 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: of a mess, so he tended to have piles of 370 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,120 Speaker 1: stuff everywhere, and while it looked baffling to his family, 371 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:30,920 Speaker 1: he generally has said to have known how to find 372 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,440 Speaker 1: things when he wanted them. As he matured, Bentley was 373 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: a little disappointed that the people he lived alongside really 374 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,440 Speaker 1: never came around thinking that his work was anything more 375 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 1: than a silly fixation. It appears from his writing that 376 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,200 Speaker 1: he had always really hoped that the people of Jericho, 377 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:52,640 Speaker 1: Vermont would see and understand that his efforts had real 378 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: merit quote years ago. I thought they might feel different 379 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: if they understood what I was doing. I thought they 380 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: might be glad to understand. So I announced that I 381 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: would give a talk in the village and show lantern 382 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: slides of my pictures. They're beautiful, you know, marvelously beautiful 383 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: on the screen. And when the night came for my lecture, 384 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,399 Speaker 1: just six people were there to hear me. It was 385 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: free bind you, and it was a fine, pleasant evening too, 386 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: but they weren't interested. Bentley stopped writing for scientific publications 387 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifteen, after a very lengthy article for monthly 388 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: Weather Review had been rejected. He continued to take snow 389 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,760 Speaker 1: crystal photos, though, including photographing three thirty eight snow crystals 390 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: over the course of nineteen snowstorms in the year nineteen nineteen. 391 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,440 Speaker 1: But then in the fall of nineteen twenty, Bentley had 392 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,439 Speaker 1: an explosion of press coverage and got the nickname the 393 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: Snowflake Man. This started with an article in the New 394 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: York Tribune that covered his lifelong career and examining and 395 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 1: documenting snow crystals. Another right up, this one in the 396 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:03,479 Speaker 1: Boston Herald fall shortly after that, then another and Leslie's Weekly, 397 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: and then one in the Boston Globe. The world seemed 398 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: to be remembering Bentley after having forgotten him for a 399 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: few years, and this time he was clearly in the spotlight. 400 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: He sort of turned into an overnight sensation, but this 401 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: was all based on work that he'd been doing for 402 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,520 Speaker 1: thirty five years at this point. Yeah, it reminds me 403 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: of that thing where like anybody, like a writer, will 404 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,400 Speaker 1: suddenly have a hit book and people be like, what's 405 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,199 Speaker 1: it like to be an overnight sensation, and they're like, 406 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: I don't know, but it's the same thing he was. 407 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: To him, it was always just work, work, work. He 408 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: also started to become kind of more of a science 409 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: communicator for the masses. He started writing for non scientists 410 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 1: and people with curious minds who just wanted to understand 411 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,640 Speaker 1: the natural world. He was essentially writing for people just 412 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: like himself, and his work continued to grow in popularity 413 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 1: as a consequence, and soon he had articles in the 414 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 1: New York Times, National Geographic, and Popular Mechanics. Eventually this 415 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,760 Speaker 1: work turned into a lecture tour. All the folks of Jericho, 416 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: Vermont may not have wanted to see Bentley's slides and 417 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: hear him talk about snowflakes and rain drops. It turned 418 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: out that a lot of other people did. He started 419 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,399 Speaker 1: selling his slides to schools, although he was not doing 420 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,400 Speaker 1: this for the money by any means. He never really 421 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: made a lot of money off of it. And even 422 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: though he was not as focused on scientific writings any longer, 423 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 1: Bentley was still following his curiosity where it led him. 424 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: In the natural world. He continued to track weather patterns, 425 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: but he also developed a lot of other interests. He 426 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,120 Speaker 1: started collecting rocks for geological analysis, and he took photos 427 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: of other things that were not snow crystals, including people 428 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: and flora. And he also started doing something that sounds 429 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,200 Speaker 1: really odd and in today's world would undoubtedly be branded 430 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:54,679 Speaker 1: as creepy. He started cataloging smiles, particularly girls smiles. So 431 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:56,760 Speaker 1: he would talk to girls that he met on the 432 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: street if he thought they had what he called a 433 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: quote charming smile. And he seemed fascinated by the same 434 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: thing in smiles that he was fascinated about snowflakes. No 435 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: two are alike. So this is where we get to 436 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: the squirrely part. That smile thing is odd, but There 437 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: were also people who thought his affinity for the company 438 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: of kids rather than adults was also odd. We mentioned 439 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: that he loved to play music for kids, but he 440 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,160 Speaker 1: also did things like build them tree forts and take 441 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: them fishing. Sometimes he would take some of them to 442 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,400 Speaker 1: Burlington to go to the movies, particularly girls. This definitely 443 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,159 Speaker 1: got some tongues wagging about whether this was appropriate or not. 444 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: Biographer duncan Ce Blanchard interviewed some of the kids many 445 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: years later as adults, and they defended Bentley as being 446 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: excited to teach kids and to spend time with them 447 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 1: because they had the same enthusiasm for things like nature 448 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: and discovery that he did. He had enjoyed the nieces 449 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: and nephews that lived on his brother's side of the farmhouse, 450 00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: and as they grew up, he seemed to take on 451 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: a sort of uncle role to other kids in Jericho. Yeah, 452 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,600 Speaker 1: that's one of those things that comes up and nobody 453 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: really has any Like there was gossip, and there were 454 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,400 Speaker 1: people that were like, no, that's baseless, but we really 455 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: have no idea if there was anything weird. But throughout 456 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: the years he gained more recognition and he was always 457 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,119 Speaker 1: really ceaselessly generous with anyone who wanted copies of his slides. 458 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 1: In one exchange, in a woman named Charlotte Bean sent 459 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,600 Speaker 1: him three dollars in a letter asking for photos, and 460 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 1: he sent sixty of them along with a letter back 461 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: in which he told her, quote, it was generous of 462 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 1: you to tell me how much you enjoy the snow, etcetera. 463 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 1: Photos for it gives me pleasure to learn so many 464 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,199 Speaker 1: are enjoying them. As the photos gained a wider audience 465 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: and wider recognition for their beauty, he also got to 466 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 1: see that they directly inspired other creators and his own words, 467 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: he saw them used quote as models for designs in 468 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 1: public schools and in schools of art. They are used 469 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: for designnes, for interior decorators, for wallpaper, for silk doylies, china, 470 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: any number of things. Even though he had not initially 471 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 1: been recognized for his work, at least from the science 472 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 1: side of things, that started to shift as he traveled 473 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,920 Speaker 1: and shared his thoughts on meteorology and gained a greater following. 474 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: Then came a not insignificant gesture in recognition of those 475 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: years of work, and that happened in nineteen twenty four. 476 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: That year, he received a grant from the American Meteorological Society, 477 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: the first research grant that organization ever issued. In nineteen thirty, 478 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: an effort began to preserve Bentley's work with snowflakes in 479 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: a book. A physicist named Dr William J. Humphreys, who 480 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: worked for the U. S. Weather Bureau, initiated the project 481 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: after having received requests for such a book over the 482 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: years from people who had become familiar with the work 483 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: of the snowflake Man, Humphreys started a fund raising endeavor 484 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 1: to get the financial needs for the publication squared away, 485 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: and once the money was secured, which it was pretty quickly, 486 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: there was one UH donor who pretty much covered the 487 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: majority of it. It was then on Bentley to actually 488 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: put the book together, and he went through his years 489 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: of snow and ice crystal research and all of his 490 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 1: many slides of snow crystals, dew, and frost, and he 491 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 1: wrote about the ways he had classified such things and 492 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,880 Speaker 1: what sorts of weather phenomena could be linked to various kinds. 493 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 1: He finished this project in mid nineteen thirty one. In 494 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: the book, titled Simply Snow Crystals, was published in November 495 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: of that year, W. J. Humphries wrote the preface. After 496 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: receiving his author copies, Bentley wrote to Humphries quote, I 497 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 1: received three copies of our book Snow Crystals the day 498 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: after Thanksgiving, and I am delighted with it. The text 499 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: seems to me perfect and the half tones are superb. 500 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 1: The second week of December one, just a couple of 501 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: weeks after holding his book in his hand for the 502 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 1: first time, Wilson Bentley was too sick to get out 503 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 1: of bed. He waved off the concern of his family, 504 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: saying that he would be fine, but his condition quickly 505 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: got worse. Another week passed, but then Bentley's nephew called 506 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 1: a doctor. At that point it was too late. He 507 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: had pneumonia. Wilson Bentley died two days before Christmas nineteen 508 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: thirty one, at the age of sixty six. According to 509 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 1: coverage of his funeral in the St. Albans, Vermont Daily Messenger, quote, 510 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: Mount Mansfield and its foothills, where Mr Bentley had taken 511 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: literally thousands of photographs of snowflakes, were blanketed in snow. 512 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 1: The sun shone brightly from a perfectly clear sky. It 513 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 1: was estimated that seventy five people attended Bentley's funeral service. 514 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: One right up in the local press read quote, Wilson 515 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,840 Speaker 1: Bentley was a greater man than many, a millionaire who 516 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 1: lives in luxury of which the snowflake man never dreamed. 517 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 1: Bentley took more than five thousands snowflake photos in his life, 518 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: and they're beautiful. He used the same Bellows camera from 519 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties right up until the end of his life. 520 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,400 Speaker 1: Five hundred of those photos or in the Smithsonian collection. 521 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: Bentley donated them to ensure their safety. Most of his 522 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: slides are cared for by the Jericho Historical Society. There 523 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,680 Speaker 1: are a few sets that are in other museum collections 524 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: as well. And in twenty six of Bentley's images went 525 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,239 Speaker 1: up for sale at the American Antique Show. Ten of 526 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: them were snowflake photographs. Remember he didn't only take photos 527 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: of snowflakes, and those snowflake photos were priced at nearly 528 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: five thousand dollars each. This would have undoubtedly been quite 529 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: a surprise to Bentley, who once noted in his life 530 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: that he had made about four thousand dollars in total 531 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: for all of his snowflake work, and that he had 532 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: spent about fifteen thousand doing it. You can also still 533 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,880 Speaker 1: buy Bentley's book Snow Crystals. You can and it's beautiful. 534 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: Do you have some listener mail to take us out? 535 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: I did. This is from our listener Margaret, who writes 536 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,959 Speaker 1: High Holly and Tracy. I just finished your Saturday classic 537 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,120 Speaker 1: about Walter Potter, and I loved the Field Museum shout out. 538 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,280 Speaker 1: I live in the suburbs of Chicago, and it's one 539 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,960 Speaker 1: of my favorite places to visit. I have always thought 540 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: the placement of the Tsavo lions was interesting. They're basically 541 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: under a staircase, fully visible, but sort of out of 542 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: the way, like even the other exhibits are afraid of them. 543 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:17,880 Speaker 1: I went to College Downtown and one of the extra 544 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 1: credit assignments I got in an anthropology class involved going 545 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 1: to the field and taking pictures with a bunch of 546 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: specific artifacts. However, the ta who selected the artifacts was 547 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 1: going off an old visit or something, because, despite the 548 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 1: multitude of animals, he picked a bird that was nowhere 549 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: to be found. One of the artifacts we did find 550 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: is the bust of an Egyptian queen who looks exactly 551 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,959 Speaker 1: like Michael Jackson. Uh and Margaret attached to picture so 552 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: we could see that's accurate. I haven't been there since 553 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,280 Speaker 1: the pandemic, she writes, but I'm eager to go back 554 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 1: to see the space they've made for Sue, famous for 555 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,240 Speaker 1: being the most complete t Rex skeleton ever found, she 556 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: graced the main hall for years, but was recently replaced 557 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: by a replica of a much larger dinosaur. Sue moved 558 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: upstairs or the other dinosaurs, but was still given her 559 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 1: own special area. I hope you have a nice holiday season. 560 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: Thank you for helping keep me saying. I work retail, 561 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,320 Speaker 1: but in a mostly office capacity, so I turn on 562 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: podcast when i'm going to be in here a while, 563 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: and yours is the first one I check for new episodes. Margaret, 564 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: thank you so much for this. I always love hearing 565 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: about people's love for the field because it's one of 566 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 1: my favorite museums. I was a little bummed. I went 567 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 1: to Chicago in that magical sort of I feel like 568 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: there was a part of the calendar in parentheses where 569 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 1: it seemed like things were getting much better for a minute. 570 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: And I went there to see my best friend and 571 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: we did not make it to the field that trip, 572 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:37,840 Speaker 1: and I was like, Oh, I'll come back in a 573 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: couple of months and I can not been back so um, 574 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 1: but I cannot wait to go back because I desperately 575 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: love that museum. If you would like to write to us, 576 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at iHeart radio 577 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,480 Speaker 1: dot com. You can also find us on social media 578 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: as Missed in History, and if you would like to subscribe, 579 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: you can do that on the iHeart Radio app or 580 00:33:55,200 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Stuff you Missed 581 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:05,719 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 582 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,640 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I 583 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:11,880 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 584 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. M