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Episode details

Radio 4,26 Dec 2018,28 mins

Kepler's Snowflakes

Science Stories

Available for over a year

Philip Ball reveals the tale of a small booklet 'On The Six-Cornered Snowflake", written by Johannes Kepler as a New Year's gift. The C17th astronomer wished to explain the intricate and symmetrical shape of winter's tiny stars of snow. His insightful speculations about minerals and geometry was the beginning of the modern understanding of crystals.

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