Podcast
StarTalk Radio
This beautiful little book was about an experience Kepler had in 1609 where he mused on the symmetry of snowflakes, asking why they are all six-cornered. Kepler speculated in the book about the origin of this symmetry, comparing the snowflake to beehives and pomegranate seeds, and concluding by saying he was knocking on the doors of chemistry but didn't know enough to continue.
He wrote a very beautiful little book called The Six Corners Snowflake, which you can get today. It's still in print.
— Episode: Are We The Universe’s Way of Knowing Its...
Episode: Are We The Universe’s Way of Knowing Itself? With...
This beautiful little book was about an experience Kepler had in 1609 where he mused on the symmetry of snowflakes, asking why they are all six-cornered. Kepler speculated in the book about the origin of this symmetry, comparing the snowflake to beehives and pomegranate seeds, and concluding by saying he was knocking on the doors of chemistry but didn't know enough to continue.
He wrote a very beautiful little book called The Six Corners Snowflake, which you can get today. It's still in print.
I have brought you the gift of almost nothing. Because I know how fond you are of nothing. But he said, in that gift of almost nothing, which is the snowflake, you can read the entire universe, which is a beautiful line.
I'm knocking on the doors of chemistry. Now, I don't know whether that word was around at the time. That's the translation I have. Because Alchemy was there for sure. Yeah, he said, I'm knocking on the doors of chemistry, but I don't know enough. So I leave it to you, dear reader, to take the next step.