"We call our home Earth," writes Philip Ball, "but Water would be more apt." In his new book Life's Matrix, Ball aims to promote greater awareness of, and insight into, the complex, baffling liquid from which all life flows.

Ball is a writer and consulting editor for the British journal Nature. He approaches the study of water in its varied forms with a blend of boundless curiosity and a literary style enriched by vast knowledge of the subject and a sense of humor. He focuses upon his subject with determined professional scrutiny as well, especially in his discussion of the scientific community's occasional lapses into delusion with such ill-conceived projects as research into polywater and cold fusion.

Life's Matrix is a book of ambitious scope, covering an amazing range of themes and topics. The intricate bonding of water molecules; the perplexing nature of supercooled water; the existence of water as ice or vapor on the moon and other planets; the transforming effect of water on Earth's weather and atmosphere; its role in the physiology of plants and animals; and its utilization, for good or ill, by human societies are all surveyed in this remarkable synthesis of scientific knowledge.

The author begins his study at the beginning of beginnings - the Big Bang. He shows how hydrogen and oxygen were formed and then united "within the imponderable expanses of interstellar space . . . and there in the making is the river Nile, the Arabian Sea, the clouds and the snowflakes, the juice of cells, the ice plains of Neptune, and who knows what other rivers, oceans and raindrops on worlds we may never see."

Although a water molecule is a simple bond of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, the study of water is a vastly complex, slippery business. Computer simulations are only beginning to reveal the manner in which water molecules bond. At almost every level of every scientific discipline concerned with the substance, the "weirdness" of water confounds and excites the search for understanding.

An especially noteworthy example of water's paradoxical nature occurs in Ball's discussion of ocean currents. A vast global conveyor system circulates water from the Pacific Ocean to the North Atlantic and back again, based upon differences in water temperature and the levels of salt dissolved in the seawater. Warm water flows from the Pacific close to the surface and then, cooled in the Atlantic and heavy with salt, it drops to the depths of the ocean, reverses course, skirting Antarctica, and flows back into the Pacific.

This process plays an important role in moderating the climate of the planet. Yet, about 10,500 years ago, as climatic conditions were warming at the end of the most recent ice age, there was a sudden shift back to frigid, glacial conditions. What happened? Scientists now believe that this plunge in temperatures, known as the Younger Dryas event, occurred when the Pacific-Atlantic circulation was impeded by a massive inflow of meltwater from the thawing northern ice sheets. This played havoc with ocean temperatures, triggering a renewed surge of icy cold weather conditions.

The implications of this sudden reversion are ominous, given the growing fears about global warming. Could melting polar ice presage a man-made ice age? Would coastal cities endure a deep freeze rather than being menaced by a rise in ocean levels?

A related concern involves the effectiveness of scientific research in curing the world's water-related ills. The growing shortage of freshwater is of even more pressing concern than global warming. Indeed, given the explosive rate of population growth and widespread pollution of water sources, this is not a matter of future speculation, but a present reality.

The record of scientific research into the nature of water itself hardly inspires confidence. Ball examines, at considerable length, the embarrassing polywater episode of the 1960s and the equally illusory plan in 1989 to produce power from electrolyzed heavy water through cold fusion.

In the first incident, Russian scientists believed that they had found a way to produce a new form of high-density water. Researchers in Britain and the United States attempted to confirm the result. When word of the tests leaked to the press, wildly inflated claims of future uses of polywater were made, including some by scientists who should have known better.

These great expectations were to be sorely disappointing. Only minute quantities of polywater were ever produced. Eventually, research showed that this substance was the result of contamination during the experimentation process. Serious inquiry into the nature of water suffered from a rush to unfounded conclusions in this and similar scientific misadventures. But, in such scientific missteps, a great deal more than injured reputations is at stake.

As Ball shows in his concluding chapter, the planet's water resources are increasingly at risk. Scientific research has made major advances in countering some of the environmental hazards, as in the recent reduction of acid rain in Europe. But there are always limits - imposed by cost, social factors, and national rivalries - as to what can be achieved.

There are no simple answers. But as Ball perceptively notes, water-related issues are gradually consolidating into one overarching question. Who owns water? Is it a communal resource governed by ethical considerations? Or is it a commodity determined by wealth and the power of nation-states?

Life's Matrix is a notable first step toward addressing these crucial concerns. Philip Ball has written a book of profound value, filling many of the gaps in our evolving understanding of water and our appreciation of its vital role in the life of the planet ironically known as Earth.