Kenneth G. Libbrecht (born June, 1958) is a currently a professor of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

, where he was physics department chair from 1997-2013.

Biography

Libbrecht received a B.S. in physics at Caltech in 1980. He was originally trained as a solar astronomer, studying under

Robert Dicke Robert Henry Dicke (; May 6, 1916 – March 4, 1997) was an American astronomer and physicist who made important contributions to the fields of astrophysics, atomic physics, cosmology and gravity. He was the Albert Einstein Professor in Scien ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and received his Ph.D. in 1984. However, much of his recent research has focused on the properties of

ice crystals Ice crystals are solid water (known as ice) in crystal structure, symmetrical shapes including hexagonal crystal family, hexagonal columns, hexagonal plates, and dendrite (crystal), dendritic crystals. Ice crystals are responsible for various at ...

, particularly the structure of

snowflakes A snowflake is a single ice crystal that is large enough to fall through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. 100–107.Hobbs, P.V. 1974. Ice Physics. Oxford: C ...

. In addition to his professional papers, he has published several popular books illustrating the variety of snowflake forms: *''The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty'' (with Patricia Rasmussen photography) *''Ken Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes'' *''The Little Book of Snowflakes'' *''The Art of the Snowflake: A Photographic Album'' Libbrecht won the 2004

National Outdoor Book Award The National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) was formed in 1997 as an American-based non-profit program which each year presents awards honoring the best in outdoor writing and publishing. It is housed at Idaho State University and chaired by Ron Watte ...

(Nature & Environment category) for ''The Snowflake''. Libbrecht was a scientific consultant on snowflakes for the 2013 Film ''Frozen''. Four of Libbrecht's snowflake pictures were selected by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

as designs for stamps for the 2006 winter holiday season, with a total printing of approximately 3 billion stamps. In 2010, Libbrecht was the recipient of the

Lennart Nilsson Award The Lennart Nilsson Award recognizes outstanding contributions to scientific photography. Honorees are chosen based on the merits of their efforts in scientific imagery. It is administered by the foundation ''Stiftelsen Lennart Nilsson'' and awarde ...

. In conjunction with the award, the Swedish postal service,

PostNord PostNord AB is a provider of postal services operating mainly in the Nordic countries. The company was formed on 24 June 2009, under the name ''Posten Norden'', as the holding company in a Mergers and acquisitions, merger between the Danish and ...

, released a series of stamps featuring some of his images of snowflakes.

References

External links

Snowflakes and Snow Crystals
(Website created and maintained by Dr. Libbrecht) {{DEFAULTSORT:Libbrecht, Kenneth Living people 21st-century American physicists American experimental physicists American astronomers American stamp designers Princeton University alumni California Institute of Technology faculty 1958 births Recipients of the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy