Photomicrograph Lantern Slides of Snowflakes

Wilson A. Bentley (1865–1931), a Vermont meteorologist and the first person known to take detailed photographs of snowflakes or snow crystals, created these incredible lantern slides. Amazingly, these techniques Bentley developed are largely the same as those used today. As early as 1898, Bentley corresponded with Smithsonian Secretary Samuel P. Langley about his work and the possibility of storing his photomicrographs. At least four batches of lantern slides or positive prints were sent to the Smithsonian between 1898 and 1905. The featured set illustrated a lecture Bentley presented at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (predecessor of the Brooklyn Museum), after which the slides were sent by the Institute to Langley and the Smithsonian on Bentley’s behalf. The unique structure of individual snowflakes is strikingly captured in Bentley’s images.

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