What Do We Mean By Water Memory?

'Water memory' is a controversial concept based on the idea that water is capable of holding a memory of the particles that have been dissolved in it. Therefore the properties of the water would be able to take the exact same form of the original solute, even though there is no solute left in the solution.

This notion is central to the work of homoeopathy but is generally ridiculed by scientists.

The concept was made famous by one of France's top allergy researchers Jacques Benveniste and supported by Professor Madeleine Ennis of Queens University, Belfast who claimed to have proven this theory. Further tests on this theory have since failed and unfortunately Jacques Benveniste lost his fundings, labs and reputation after his work was largely discredited in 1988. Nevertheless the argument is still current, with Swiss chemist Louis Rey at the centre.
Rey used thermoluminescence to study the structure of solids. Some are convinced by his work, others are still to be convinced by the idea of 'water memory'.