At School,

before or just after the summer break,

 it was a given that the chemistry master would get the whole class growing crystals,

 the summer was chosen as heat was required to obtain a supersaturated solution, normally of salt as it was easily available,

 and if it all goes according to plan,

 this is what you should get,

 small salt crystals,

growing bigger, not before your very eyes, it takes a bit of time, these GIFs are speeded up,

as is this video, but fascinating to watch, Dalian, China-based videographer Wenting Zhu spent seven months creating The Arctic, a time-lapse video that explores the vastly different crystallization processes of salts, crystals formed from salts including potassium nitrate and sodium, the film was created for Beauty of Science, an ongoing series that presents aesthetically intriguing videos about science with a focus on chemical reactions, You can see more of Zhu’s macro photography on Behance and more footage from Beauty of Science on Vimeo, these images brought back thoughts of school days for me in the 1950s and 60s, what memories.