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. In 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 in 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 lights, 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 and snowflake images for the forty six years that

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>home educated, he ended up publishing in some of the

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>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 coupe 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 snowflakes,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>not all the same. We have a water molecule called deuterium,

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

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<v Speaker 2>different than most common water molecules. And now this is

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

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<v Speaker 2>snowflake is made out of several hundred trillion water molecules.

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<v Speaker 2>And so even if we only have a few of

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<v Speaker 2>these molecules that are deuterium, we therefore end up with

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<v Speaker 2>differences because of these few molecules. Because when you're talking

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<v Speaker 2>about one thousand million billion water molecules, even if you

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<v Speaker 2>have a million billion than these ruge molecules such as

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<v Speaker 2>deuterium produce differences. And so he really did a lot

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>is there is an enormous amount of variety everywhere in animals.

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<v Speaker 2>In Beatles, one scientist said God has an inordinate fondness

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<v Speaker 2>of beatles because he made so many kinds, and I

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<v Speaker 2>guess there are six seven thousand different kinds of beatles,

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<v Speaker 2>and so therefore one thing we know when we look

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<v Speaker 2>at the natural world is enormous variety everywhere, even in snowflakes.

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<v Speaker 2>And his inspiration, again was to understand God's creation. You

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<v Speaker 2>learn about God by studying his creation, which is true

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<v Speaker 2>because you learn about an artist by studying his artwork.

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

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<v Speaker 2>You learn about God by studying his creation. And of

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>is to understand and learn about God, and certainly we

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<v Speaker 2>can see that was true in Snowflake Bentley. That's why

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<v Speaker 2>I became fascinating with him, because he's different. He's not

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<v Speaker 2>the usual person who goes to colleagues and gets his

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<v Speaker 2>PhD in physics and goes on and studies nature. He's

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<v Speaker 2>totally home grown, and therefore he was original and wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>constrained by the belief back then that you'll never photograph

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 2>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 picking 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