Review of \u3ci\u3eFresh Water\u3c/i\u3e by E. C. Pielou

Rarely is a book on water both technical and lucid. E. C. Pielou has the scientist\u27s determination to get the lingo right and the writer\u27s determination to bring coherence to complexity. This is a contemporary natural history of fresh water, as the author makes clear on the opening page: The most noteworthy characteristic of any small body of fresh water-be it a pond, a stream, an icicle, or a rain cloud-is its impermanence There is also an urgency to the book. Since fresh water is only about 3 percent of the world\u27s entire water supply, the author notes that a shortage of clean fresh water could well be the ultimate limiting factor to human population growth (ix). Conflict over fresh water has already shaped relations between the United States and Canada and Mexico. Pundits predict future wars over water in the Middle East