Customer Reviews

Polywater

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This book tells the story about Polywater. It shows how scientists can follow trends and publish nonsense. I think it is a lesson that every scientist should learn - be more critical, be careful when you follow trends.
The writing is very nice and entertaining. I really like the analogy with Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle book.

Felix Franks recounts the story of one of the more embarrassing fallacies of established science: polywater. During the sixties, some Russian scientists found experimental evidence of what they assumed to be long range order in specially prepared samples of water. Scientist in the west were not to be outdone (their interest perhaps fueled by the ongoing cold war), and soon similar research was a hot topic in Europe and USA. The term polywater was coined for this 'polymerized' form of water, and some spectacular claims were made concerning its properties, which even reached ordinary media. Franks follows this development, and also what happens in the next step when the fad dies out after being discredited by more thorough investigations. The story is of interest to scientist of all fields and people interested in the scientific method as an example of how science can go astray. The subject matter makes it particularly amusing for physical/inorganic chemists.