On the basis of these well-established materials science principles, one can conclude that the
structure of liquid water at say 25° C and 1 atm is a highly mobile assemblage of interactive
clusters (dominantly perhaps of half a dozen different oligomers), with minor amounts of
dozens of others, and possibly a few larger “polymers” in the 200-H20 range. What is very
significant about this model is that this arrangement of a “zoo” of mixed sizes of molecules is
also highly likely to be highly anisodesmic. First there will be a cluster of bond strength
values around the typical hydrogen bond within the cluster, or in small molecules. But these
intra-cluster bonds are likely to be much stronger than the inter-cluster van der Waals type
bonds. Most interrogatory experimental tools may be inappropriate for making this
distinction especially among its weakest bonds. Hence water is ideal for responses to small
and large changes in all the intensive thermodynamic variables. Water is therefore probably
the most easily changed phase of condensed matter known. It is this unique anisodesmicity, or
structural and bonding heterogeneity, that helps explain its amazingly labile nature and hence
the various extraordinary data, e.g. the clustering of water and solute in very dilute solutions
reported by Samal and Geckeler, much of the ultra-dilution work, and the reported influences
of very weak magnetic fields [47].7

This aspect of the materials science approach to the 3-D structure of matter is not the only
highly relevant area of contemporary science which might have been overlooked by the
chemical approach to water behavior. We discuss others below. 

a. The role of epitaxy 

Epitaxy, a term which does not appear even in most technical dictionaries, is a phenomenon
very well known, studied and used in dozens of everyday technologies in materials science
(See Barker; Royer; Pashley [48—50]). Yet it is never invoked directly in the literature on
potential interference in the data, or on the super-sensitive molecular structural studies of
water. It is not even referenced by the strongest supporters of homeopathy. Epitaxy is the
transmission of structural information from the surface (hence epi) of one material (usually a
crystalline solid) to another (usually but not always a liquid) (See Fig. 14).


Fig. 14. A cartoon model of epitaxial transfer of structural information from one crystal to another, and to the
liquid adjacent to the crystal without any transfer of composition. The graphite to diamond “determined” by the
presence of H° but no H is left in the diamond.

Subtleties of terminology appear in various papers, but it is structural “information” that is
definitely transferred (for a recent example of the subtleties of the what and how information
can be transferred in the preparation of certain industrially important phases, see Roy, Guo,
It is also plausible as reported by John Ives that especially with the succussing process, trace amounts of the
glass (which is probably a complex aluminosilicate) are dispersed as nano-heterogeneities of silicate islands.
(“Recent data on homeopathy research”, Proceedings at the Whole Person Health Summit, Washington, D.C.,
April 2005) 

Bhalla and Cross [51]. In most cases, no (zero) matter is transferred from solid to liquid, but
even major structural changes and patterning information is certainly transferred , e.g. GeO2
can be made to crystallize from aqueous solution in the quartz (SiO2) structure or the rutile
(TiO2) structure (which is 50% denser), merely by using the appropriate epitaxial substrate.
Hence it is clear that concentrations of the change agent or solute which dissolves in the liquid
phase, being changed, whether above or below Avogadro’s limit become wholly irrelevant,
since it is zero. By providing a specific structure as a template (usually solid but sometimes
liquid), one can induce an entire body of liquid (or even solid, see Liu et al.) to precipitate or
crystallize in a pre-selected structure or morphology [52]. The seeding of clouds is epitaxial
growth of crystalline-ice on a substrate of AgI, which has the same crystal structure. Seeding
and epitaxial growth of semi-conductors is universally practiced in major modern
technologies. Information and “memory” are transmitted from the seed or substrate to
adjacent layers of the liquid phase, which can completely control the structure of what is
formed from it. No chemical transfer whatsoever occurs.

In homeopathy, a specific material (animal, mineral, or plant source), is added to the liquid
(water or water + ethanol). The preparation of the homeopathic remedy involves multiple
serial dilution steps, each followed by multiple succussions (vigorous shaking or
turbulence—by hand or mechanically). The resultant remedy is hypothesized to catalyze
system-wide, hierarchically self-organized changes within a clinically ill person or animal [53,
54]. However, this paper is not concerned with any clinical effects whatsoever.

The only relevant question for us is, in what ways can the “active agent” change, affect or
“imprint” the liquid structure [55]. The biochemical and medical community, unaware of the
materials research field, assume that it is only the presence in solution of finite concentrations
of the active agent that can affect a liquid. They are clearly wrong: structure can be
transferred by epitaxy with no presence whatsoever of the controlling phase. We have
established that the structure of water can possibly be influenced by the structure of the solids
with which it is in contact, including possibly the glass or polymer containers used to hold it
in say IR or Raman spectroscopy. The thickness of the affected layer will of course be
strongly influenced by the structural relations of the substrate and the liquid, and any
generalization that is only a few atomic diameters neglects the key role of the structural
affinity. The key thrust for future research will be to determine just how far the different
epitaxial effects caused by the electrostatic force fields of the crystal extend into the liquid.
Indeed, the reach of these changes in structure studied by NMR and IR spectroscopy have
been recently claimed to extend from hundreds of angstroms to hundreds of microns or more
[56, 57]. The authors use the term “contact with a solid phase” as necessary for this epitaxial
transfer of information. The recent work by Samal and Geckeler also shows the most
remarkable aggregation of solute+water clusters around a wide variety of solutes (from NaCl
to DNA to fullerene complexes) which range into the micron size range as the specific
chemical concentration goes down [47]. 

b. The colloidal state and its relevance to the structure of water 

The first well-established indications from materials science include: potential structural
heterogeneity within virtually all covalent liquids, and the role of epitaxy in transferring
structural information without involving compositional dissolution in the water at all. In
addition to the above, materials scientists deal extensively with other phenomena which may
prove to be relevant to the structure of a liquid phase, such as the formation of unexpected,
novel colloidal suspensions. This is a much less explored area, but one with great potential
[1].

A colloid is considered to be a two phase system usually consisting of finely divided solid
matter (≈ 100—1000 nm) dispersed in a liquid. The term can obviously include both liquids
and gases as the dispersed phase. The finely divided phase in a stable colloid consists of
either positively or negatively charged particles, which of course keeps them from clustering
and precipitating out. Can one see the significance of the colloidal state on the structure of
water? (It is apocryphally reported that it was Einstein who in his work on Brownian motion,
his most cited paper, commented on the fact that colloids are “atoms” (structurally different
from the parent liquid?)).

First, the colloidal particles can exert a structural epitaxial influence on liquid layers (of
unknown size) around them. Second, the very existence of a statistically periodic set of
charged particles is also sure to affect the overall structure of the water. Of course, some of
these effects may well be de minimis. Finally, again a major insight from materials science,
the number of such nuclei, and the potential for epitaxy must—from classical nucleation
theory—affect the ease of crystallization (and hence lowering the undercooling possible) and
finally from epitaxial effects, the colloids should easily affect the morphology of the ice being
crystallized.

The colloidal state also provides an excellent bridge to demonstrate the biological effects of
ultradiluted water samples. It has been known for thousands of years that metallic silver had
extraordinary antibacterial properties. These antibacterial properties of silver are utilized in
many devices used in modern medicine from special stents to wound dressings. Colloidal
metallic silver in pure water at 1 atom ppm concentrations is a powerful broad spectrum
antibiotic. Data on one such colloidal dispersion is found in Table II below. What is striking
is that this biological activity is comparable to the best known antibiotics and continues (even
if slightly diminished) at 0.01 atom ppm or lower concentrations. Although not below the
Avogrado limit, traditional chemical explanations of this effectiveness at such ultra-dilute
concentrations have not been advanced.


Table II:
Comparison of biocidal effectiveness (measured as the minimum inhibitory concentration MIC in ppm) of key
antibiotics with ASAP-10, a colloidal silver prepared in a 11,000 volt AC field with a concentration of 1 atom
per 106 molecules of H2O. (The MIC for the colloid applies in humans to topical applications) (Personal
communication, Prof. R.W. Leavitt, Brigham Young University)