Hacker News Reader

I think the fact that the error was in a scientific magazine warrants the letter.

Also, it trumps pedantic by being funny.

But understandable, since seeing the ad in Nature was probably the last straw.

I wonder how many manifestos are the result of someone snapping?

Agreed. Aesthetics > Reality.

I wrote a fun little web app to draw snowflakes a few weeks ago: http://www.create-a-snowflake.com/ . I settled on 8 sides, although the first version had an option to have anywhere from 4 to 20 sides.

But the scientific reality is aesthetics too. Seeing how the snowflake is a textbook example of beauty found in nature, I would personally find myself obliged to represent the snowflake according to it, even for the purpose of your application.

The 8-sided paper snowflake exists because it's easy to fold a square piece of paper into eighths (i.e. three times, one diagonal) and cut it. It's so kids can make snowflakes. The correct six is much harder.

I agree with the heart analogy.