This is a very well written and informative introduction to our scientific understanding of water. Even though water is one of the most common substances around (we ourselves are 70% water), the actual deep understanding of water has been a very elusive topic. In general, studying liquids is a very difficult subject, and it’s in its liquid form where most of the important and unique aspects of water are found. My own background is in Theoretical Physics, and even though I would like to think that my understanding of solid and gaseous states of matter is very solid, my understanding of liquids is rather rudimentary. Studying liquids is not a part of standard Physics curriculum, and I was grateful to learn a lot about it from this small book, especially on a very fundamental molecular level. The book goes into some depth in the function of water for life, since water is indubitably one of the most essential substances for existence of life in the first place. I have also learned a lot about very rich structure of solid water, i.e. ice. It turns out that there are about seventeen different kinds of ice, and water in its solid form is one of the more complex substances that we know.

This is a fairly technical book, and even though it doesn’t use any equations and other advanced scientific tools, it does require a fairly high level of scientific literacy from the reader. Overall, though, I highly recommend it.