Snowflake of ice. At that stage, the snowflake has the shape of a minute hexagon. The six "arms" of the snowflake, or dendrites, then grow independently from each of the corners of the hexagon, while either side of each arm grows independently. The microenvironment in which the snowflake grows changes dynamically as the snowflake falls through the cloud and tiny changes in temperature and humidity affect the way in which water molecules attach to the snowflake. Since the micro-environment (and its changes) are very nearly identical around the snowflake, each arm tends to grow in nearly the same way. However, being
At Home: A Short History of Private Life home, but a venue for Bryson to present each of a series of historical events as a "well-turned story, a mildly humorous aside, a colourful anecdote". Historian Judith Flanders said that "occasionally the book seems to have better jokes than it does a sense of history" but still called the book a "treasure". Another reviewer noted that one with "any interest in furniture, food, fashion, architecture, energy or world history ... (will have) stumbled across some (or all) of the information Bryson has on offer (because) countless books have been written on every subject covered in "At Home"; many are