6. Conclusions

Throughout this presentation, it has become clear that water possesses exceptional properties, some of which run counter to what we might expect from comparisons with other substances. These properties have given water a primordial role on Earth. Liquid under ambient conditions but capable of passing through all three states, it regulates climates as well as the temperature of living beings, it helps erode rocks to make agricultural soils, and it conditions the functioning of life and human activities. It is the most universal solvent, albeit with certain limitations (e.g. noble metals).

Most of water's properties are due to its particular molecule, whose organization can change under the influence of a given solute. But can water molecules retain the imprint of a solute, to the point of retaining properties of the initial solution during successive dilutions (alternating...