num_pages: 429
description: One of the four elements of classical antiquity, water is central to the environment of our planet. In Life's Matrix, Philip Ball writes of water's origins, history, and unique physical character. As a geological agent, water shapes mountains, canyons, and coastlines, and when unleashed in hurricanes and floods its destructive power is awesome. Ball's provocative exploration of water on other planets highlights the possibilities of life beyond Earth. Life's Matrix also examines the grim realities of depletion of natural resources and its effects on the availability of water in the twenty-first century.
language: English
title: Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water
titlecomplete: Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water
genres: Popular Science, History, Biology, Science, Nature, Chemistry, Unfinished, Nonfiction, Environment
ratings_count: 261
publisher: University of California Press