"A Drop of Water" by Walter Wick

A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder  by Walter Wick

Is it possible to be captivated simply by a book title?  A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder stayed in my brain for weeks after it first appeared in a book search when gathering resources for a science lesson.  I would be washing up in the kitchen, see a drop of water, and the phrase "science and wonder" would spring forward and obscure relevant topics that should rightfully have been occupying my thoughts.  "Science and wonder."  Like a musical earworm, the title phrase appeared unbidden (often at inconvenient times) until I finally sated my curiosity, tracked down the book, and quelled my restless unconscious.

Happily, this beautiful and intriguing book measures up to its evocative title and is indeed full of science and wonder.  Photographer Walter Wick is best known for his I Spy series of children’s books.  In A Drop of Water, Wick presents remarkable images of various states and properties of water.  Wick explains that he collects vintage science books, most intended for children and published more than 100 years ago.  Intrigued by the illustrations and the simple experiments, he was inspired to recreate and photograph many of the activities.  These explorations gave rise to this wondrous (yes!) book, Wick’s first solo publication. 

Wick uses full-page photographs, close-ups, and multiple panel sequential images that reveal eighteen distinct properties or states of water.  In “Water’s Smallest Parts,” Wick launches his text with a glorious photograph of a drop of water careening onto a table in an explosion of droplets.  The next drop is suspended in mid-air, a translucent orb frozen by the camera awaiting its imminent fall.  Wick presents images of elasticity, surface tension, adhesion, capillary attraction, water vapor, evaporation, condensation, and refraction of light.  In recreating century-old science activities, he also addresses properties of soap bubbles, molecules in motion, and how clouds form.  Wick’s arresting photographs  of snowflakes are based on techniques dating from 1885.  While his treatment of the water cycle is dispersed throughout the book, Wick offers an abbreviated summary to accompany the final photographs and concludes with a short paragraph emphasizing the indispensable and finite supply of Earth’s water.

The precision and splendor of Wick’s photographs will captivate most students regardless of their reading level.  The accompanying narrative offers thorough but not overwhelming descriptions of the water property being depicted.  Definitions of key terminology are provided in context.  As an addendum, Wick offers suggestions about how to conduct these activities and experiments, recommending ideal weather conditions and equipment specifications. Wick's book of "science and wonder" is appropriate as a read-aloud for younger elementary students and as a resource or independent text for older elementary students.  On a dewy morning or when snow or sleet blankets the ground, I can envision a nature walk comparing first-hand observations with the luminous photographs in this book. Sharing that exploration with a young child is indeed a wonder.  Now, Wick's book will provide the science.