No one person discovered water in the sense of finding something previously unknown. Water has always existed. However, Henry Cavendish is credited with discovering the composition of water.
Henry Cavendish and the Composition of Water
In approximately 1781, the English chemist Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) conducted experiments with hydrogen and oxygen. He demonstrated that when these gases were mixed and ignited, they reacted to produce water. This groundbreaking work revealed the chemical makeup of water, showing it to be composed of two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen (though the precise H₂O formula was later determined by Amedeo Avogadro in 1811).
This wasn't a discovery of water itself, but rather a discovery of its constituent elements and their ratio. People had obviously known about water for millennia, but Cavendish’s work marked a pivotal moment in our scientific understanding of its nature.
- Cavendish's Experiment: Mixed hydrogen and oxygen, resulting in water formation.
- Avogadro's Contribution: Determined the precise chemical formula H₂O.
Many sources, including the BWT website (https://www.bwt.com/en-gb/water-knowledge/), corroborate Cavendish's role in elucidating water's composition. Other sources, like the History Cooperative (https://historycooperative.org/who-invented-water/), similarly highlight his contribution. Note that while many people worked on understanding water properties and behaviors over time, Cavendish's experiments are specifically recognised as being foundational in scientifically understanding the composition of water.
The concept of "discovering" water is therefore misleading. The question should be reframed as: "Who first determined the chemical composition of water?" The answer, then, remains Henry Cavendish.
