Sunday, February 17, 2013

Two snowflakes alike is possible...

…but how probable is it that any one person will see two snowflakes alike.

A snowflake consists of a finite number of molecules in a finite number of fractal hexagons.  A finite number times a finite number is still a finite number.  Maybe somebody has worked out just how large this number is.  Writing this at our cabin with a seemingly infinitely slow interconnection, I don't want to check it.

If we assume that there are a finite number of snowflakes, the next question is what is the probability that they will fall where one individual will see them together.  Or have photographed a large number and found two alike.

My guess is that if a person sees a snowflake today in Minnesota, maybe somebody in the Andes saw an identical snowflake over a hundred years ago.

In advertising parlance, the possibilities are endless:)