Polywater

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.