• An editor of the "
Meteorologische Zeitschrift" 1892-1907 (with
Julius von Hann) •
Repertorium der Deutschen Meteorologie, 1883 •
Work with snowflakes In 1892 Hellmann piqued an interest in pictures of
snowflakes, after seeing some of
Wilson Bentley's photography, he commissioned a microphotographer to take shots of snowflakes to study. Upon review of these
microphotographs, Hellmann noted a large difference in the snowflake pictures he took, and the ones
Wilson Bentley had taken. Hellmann's snowflakes were irregular, there were various types, sizes, shapes, and forms.
Bentley's snowflakes however, were perfect, symmetrical, six-sided and reminiscent of stars. Hellmann was perplexed by this, and openly questioned the accuracy of
Bentley's work. He accused Bentley of manipulating the snowflake to get these perfect results. Bentley eventually admitted to somewhat doctoring the photographs, by scraping emulsion off the negatives, but he claimed that this did not change the integrity or accuracy of the photograph. This argument persisted for years, Hellmann insisted that altering the snowflake was unethical, as it misrepresented the snowflake in its truest form, Bentley argued the opposite. Although the argument never formally ended with one side winning, it is still Bentley's snowflake the world thinks of when they see snow fall.
Hellmann number In Germany and especially the Netherlands, Hellmann is known for the Hellmann number, a measure for the severity of a winter. This figure is derived by adding up all negative temperatures in the period of 1 November of the previous year up to and including 31 March of the current year. ==See also==