WEBVTT - Snowflake Bentley

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<v Speaker 1>This is our American stories, and we tell all kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of stories here on this show. As you know, Jerry

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<v Speaker 1>Bergman has taught science for forty five years at university

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<v Speaker 1>in subjects like biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology.

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<v Speaker 1>He has nine degrees in the field of science, including

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<v Speaker 1>seven graduate and postgraduate degrees. Doctor Bergmann's here to tell

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<v Speaker 1>us the story of a teenage boy who became interested

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<v Speaker 1>in snow. On January fifteenth, eighteen eighty five, at twenty

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<v Speaker 1>years of age, he became the first person in the

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<v Speaker 1>world to photograph a snowflake. Here's doctor Bergman with the story.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, his background is he's from Vermont and a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of snow there, and he became interested in science, and

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<v Speaker 2>his parents were very supportive. They even though they really

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<v Speaker 2>couldn't afford it. They bought him things like a microscope

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<v Speaker 2>and a camera so he could take pictures. And among

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<v Speaker 2>his many interests was the weather. He actually charted the

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<v Speaker 2>weather and tried to correlate the weather with other events.

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<v Speaker 2>But he became especially interested in snowflakes, and he could

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<v Speaker 2>with a small magnifying glass he could see they looked different,

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<v Speaker 2>and so he tried to figure out what, why are

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<v Speaker 2>they different, what's going on here? And of course the

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<v Speaker 2>problem is a microscope requires light, and light produces heat,

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<v Speaker 2>and the heat melted the snowflakes. So he had to

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<v Speaker 2>come up with a way of getting it cold enough

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<v Speaker 2>to get the snowflakes and examine them work quickly so

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<v Speaker 2>he could get pictures without the snowflakes melting, and he

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<v Speaker 2>was finally able to do that. In fact, he was

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<v Speaker 2>the first person ever to get a photograph of a snowflake,

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<v Speaker 2>and so that was quite a invention for a young boy.

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<v Speaker 2>Was home schooled by the way, he didn't go to

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<v Speaker 2>public schools, and his parents his mother was a teacher,

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<v Speaker 2>so she was very supportive of his work, so he

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<v Speaker 2>was somewhat independent, I guess his whole life. His full

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<v Speaker 2>name was Wilson or Willie. They called him his childhood

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<v Speaker 2>name Bentley, and his name often is called snowflake Bentley

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<v Speaker 2>because he did so much work in this area and

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<v Speaker 2>he wanted to explore the world of science firsthand, and

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<v Speaker 2>he saw God not only in the scriptures, but he

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<v Speaker 2>saw God in the natural world. And as a result

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<v Speaker 2>of his studying the natural world, he just realized he

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<v Speaker 2>could learn a great deal about God through studying God's creation,

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<v Speaker 2>and once he noticed they were different, he wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>photograph them because he felt that the glory of God

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<v Speaker 2>can be revealed through snowflakes. And of course people thought

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<v Speaker 2>that was silly, because come on, the glory of God

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<v Speaker 2>can be revealed through snowflakes. This is silly. But he

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<v Speaker 2>saw snowflakes as miracles of beauty, and it seemed to

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<v Speaker 2>him the beauty of this should not be hidden, It

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<v Speaker 2>should be seen and appreciated by others. So how can

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<v Speaker 2>you do that. You can do that basically by getting pictures.

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<v Speaker 2>And when he photographed them, he realized that the key

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<v Speaker 2>is the conditions. Can't be too cold because then the

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<v Speaker 2>snowflakes are brittle. It can't be too warm because then

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<v Speaker 2>the snowflakes melt. And so therefore he really was a

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<v Speaker 2>good experimentalist. I mean, he must have spent hours and

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<v Speaker 2>hours and hours of failures and he realized that, well,

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<v Speaker 2>this has to be done, and he had things all

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<v Speaker 2>set up to get pictures, and something would happen. He

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<v Speaker 2>didn't get a picture. He wasn't fast enough, and so

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<v Speaker 2>he had to work out his system so that he

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<v Speaker 2>was able to accurately get snowflakes, and once he did so,

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<v Speaker 2>he was able to photograph a few ten fifteen, twenty,

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<v Speaker 2>and then after a while he ended up with about

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<v Speaker 2>five thousand and snowflake images for the forty six years

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<v Speaker 2>that he worked on this, and so he had a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of pictures. One interesting thing is is that even

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<v Speaker 2>though he wasn't a scientist, never went to school, he

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<v Speaker 2>was home educated. He ended up publishing in some of

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<v Speaker 2>the leading science magazines in the world. He wrote the

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<v Speaker 2>article on snow for the Encycopedia Britannica, and that was

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<v Speaker 2>quite a privilege in his day and well today as well.

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<v Speaker 2>And then he eventually published a coffee sized table book

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<v Speaker 2>of six thousand photographs titled Snow Crystals, and the book

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<v Speaker 2>was published by the leading publishers McGraw hill, and so

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<v Speaker 2>this was quite a coup for a young man who

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<v Speaker 2>was home schooled. He also published articles on snowflakes in

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<v Speaker 2>Popular Mechanics magazine, in the world's leading scientific magazine called Nature,

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<v Speaker 2>and of course in the more common widely circulated magazines

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<v Speaker 2>like the National Geographic. In nineteen twenty three. Unfortunately, I

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<v Speaker 2>have of most of these magazines, so I was able

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<v Speaker 2>to look them up in the nation geographic and from

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<v Speaker 2>our standards today, they were good and beautiful, but not

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<v Speaker 2>to the quality that we can get today today. The

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<v Speaker 2>techniques are such where we end up with incredibly gorgeous

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<v Speaker 2>pictures of snowflakes. And I have four or five books

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<v Speaker 2>which illustrate this, and you can see the beauty is

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<v Speaker 2>there quite vividly, and you can appreciate more than in

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<v Speaker 2>his day. But on the other hand, on his day,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, seeing a picture of a snowflake just astounded people,

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<v Speaker 2>and that's why he became his work became so popular.

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<v Speaker 2>Another contribution he made, which turned out to be very important,

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<v Speaker 2>was every snowflake, as far as he could tell, was different,

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<v Speaker 2>and he wondered why why are they different? And so

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<v Speaker 2>he studied the process of the manufacture, the production of

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<v Speaker 2>snowflakes and realize they fall in certain conditions, They move

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<v Speaker 2>upward because of weather conditions, so they move up and

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<v Speaker 2>down in the clouds, and after a while they end

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<v Speaker 2>up being exposed in different amounts of heat and cold

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<v Speaker 2>in different conditions, and that produces the variety that we

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<v Speaker 2>see in snowflakes. But you discovered they all have either

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<v Speaker 2>six sides or three sides. And now we understand part

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<v Speaker 2>of the reason for the difference is because water molecules

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<v Speaker 2>are not all the same. We have a water molecule

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<v Speaker 2>called deuterium, which is called heavy water, which is a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit different than most common water molecules. And now

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<v Speaker 2>this is a rare molecule. It's not found very commonly.

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<v Speaker 2>But each snowflake is made out of several hundred trillion

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<v Speaker 2>water molecules. And so even if we only have a

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<v Speaker 2>few of these molecules that are deuterium, we therefore end

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<v Speaker 2>up with differences because of these few molecules. Because when

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<v Speaker 2>you're talking about one thousand million billion water molecules, even

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<v Speaker 2>if you have a million billion than these ruge molecules

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<v Speaker 2>such as deuterium produce differences. And so he really did

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of work in chemistry and physics, in science

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<v Speaker 2>and understanding specifically why there are so many snowflake differences.

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<v Speaker 2>And so therefore it helps us appreciate the variety in nature.

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<v Speaker 2>And one thing you learn about nature when you study

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<v Speaker 2>nature is there is an enormous amount of variety everywhere

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<v Speaker 2>in animals. In Beatles, one scientist said God has an

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<v Speaker 2>inordinate fondness of beatles because he made so many kinds,

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<v Speaker 2>and I guess there are six seven thousand different kinds

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<v Speaker 2>of beatles, and so therefore one thing we know when

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<v Speaker 2>we look at the natural world is enormous variety everywhere,

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<v Speaker 2>even in snowflakes. And his inspiration, again was to understand

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<v Speaker 2>God's creation. You learn about God by studying his creation,

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<v Speaker 2>which is true because you learn about an artist by

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<v Speaker 2>studying his artwork. You learn about a musician by studying

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<v Speaker 2>his music compositions. You learn about God by studying his creation.

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<v Speaker 2>And of course his creation would be the natural world.

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<v Speaker 2>And so I've course, my background is science, so I

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<v Speaker 2>agree that that's true in many scientists that I know,

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<v Speaker 2>their motivation is to understand and learn about God, and

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<v Speaker 2>certainly we can see that was true in Snowflake Bentley.

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<v Speaker 2>That's why I became fascinated with him, because he's different.

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<v Speaker 2>He's not the usual person who goes to colleagues and

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<v Speaker 2>gets his PhD in physics and goes on and studies nature.

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<v Speaker 2>He's totally home grown, and therefore he was original and

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<v Speaker 2>wasn't constrained by the belief back then that you'll never

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<v Speaker 2>photograph snowflakes because it just can't be done because the

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<v Speaker 2>heat of the microscope. You've got to get light in

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<v Speaker 2>there to see it, and that light is heat, and

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<v Speaker 2>therefore that's going to melt the snowflakes. He can't do it,

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<v Speaker 2>and he had a hard time at first. He failed,

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<v Speaker 2>I think for two or three years and he wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>able to get one single photograph, but eventually he got thousands.

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<v Speaker 2>As Edison once said, the key to invention is not creativity,

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<v Speaker 2>but simply perseverance, keep trying, keep working. The local elementary school,

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<v Speaker 2>I was asked to come in and do a presentation

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<v Speaker 2>on Snowflake Bentley because they studied him in this school,

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<v Speaker 2>and so he still his ideas and his example still

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<v Speaker 2>inspires young people today, and there are a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>children's books about him, and so therefore it's a good example,

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<v Speaker 2>a good example for all of us.

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<v Speaker 1>Great work is always by Greg Hengler for digging up

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<v Speaker 1>this story and for producing the piece, and a special

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<v Speaker 1>thanks also to Jerry Bergman for sharing the story of

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<v Speaker 1>Wilson Willie Bentley a beauty here on our American Stories