ABSTRACT
The role of water in physical situations from biology to geology is almost
universally thought to be important, but the details are disputed [1-20].
For example, as concerns proteins, the side chains of roughly half the amino
acids are polar, while the other half are hydrophobic; the nonmixing of the
two is a major mechanism steering the folding of proteins and other self-
assembly processes. As a second example, it is an everyday occurrence to
observe beading-up of raindrops on raincoats or leaves of plants. Moreover, it
is observed theoretically and experimentally that when the gap between two
hydrophobic surfaces becomes critically small, water is ejected spontaneously
[2 ,3, 18-20], whereas water ilms conined between symmetric hydrophilic
surfaces are stable [1]. Despite its importance, water exhibits much
anomalous behaviors compared with other luids. Particularly, it presents
some even more puzzling behaviors when it is under spatial coninement at
hydrophobic surfaces. This chapter is adapted from discussions in several
primary accounts published previously [3, 4].
