Surprising stories from the history of science told by Naomi Alderman and Philip Ball.
Surprising stories from the history of science told by Naomi Alderman and Philip Ball.
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.