Emoto's sloppy pseudoscience shines throughout the book, most amusingly when he asserts that he believes there are 108 elements in the periodic table, because that corresponds to the number of earthly human desires described in Buddhism. Scientists currently claim the existence of 116 elements, 94 of them naturally occurring on Earth, but Emoto, a businessman who obtained certification as a doctor of alternative medicine, doesn't often let facts get in his way.
"Many of the photos are quite nice," says retired chemist Stephen Lower on his website, "but the shapes of ice crystals are highly dependent on the conditions and rates of freezing, so Emoto's fanciful interpretations have no scientific validity."
The crystal pictures that accompany the audiobook are undeniably beautiful (even some of the ones he describes negatively), but his descriptions of them range from highly subjective interpretations to downright incorrect facts. After claiming that major cities' water supplies don't form proper crystals, he cites my city of Vancouver as an exception. "The water from Vancouver produced relatively complete crystals, perhaps because of the bountiful supply of water in the Rocky Mountains," reads the description following a lovely crystal picture. If Vancouver didn't lie 500 miles away from the Rocky Mountains, he might have more luck sounding credible.
Most damning to Emoto's credibility, he talks about the healing properties of water — particularly the special healing water he sells on his website, of course.
There is a positive, important message in The Hidden Messages in Water which is nearly buried under the ridiculous claims of water's alien origins and supernatural powers. Emoto's point is that since humans are composed of water, and depend on the Earth's water supply for life, we must value that source of life more than we currently do. His anti-pollution, pro-conservation stand is laudable, even if his fanciful theories aren't.
The Hidden Messages in Water is available unabridged on three compact discs, including an enhanced CD with 65 pages of water crystal pictures. For more information, visit Simon and Schuster's audiobook website, SimonSays, where you can also hear a clip and listen to a podcast about the book.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
2 - Rick Henderson
I would like to believe that his research is verifiable, but alas its probably not going to be so. Your site is the first in a Google list that critically reviews the book, as the first 2 pages of hits for the phrase "messages in water" mostly result in telling people how great the book is. Congrats on a well written, non-confrontational review.