Full Idea
Water's structure cannot simply be described as a collection of individual molecules. There is a continual dissociation of H2O molecules into hydrogen and hydroxide ions; they former larger polymeric species, explaining conductivity, melting and boiling.
Gist of Idea
Water molecules dissociate, and form large polymers, explaining its properties
Source
Weisberg/Needham/Hendry (Philosophy of Chemistry [2011], 4.5)
Book Reference
'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.29
A Reaction
[compressed] If philosophers try to state the 'essence of water', they had better not be too glib about it.