I have been meaning to write about this for some time but got
sidetracked by all the other topics. It formed the basis of an
article by Robert Rosenberg in the December 2005 issue of
Physics Today (pages 50-55). How people respond to such a
question can tell you a lot about their relationship to science
in general. Some people will think that such an everyday
question should have a simple answer that has been known for a
long time. Others will answer that that is just the way ice is.
Intelligent design and other types of creationists might respond
that ice was made slippery for a purpose that we cannot
comprehend. Yet others will say “who cares?” and wonder why we
should bother with trying to answer such a question at all. But
ask a group of scientifically-minded people this question and
you will get a lively discussion going about the various
possible explanations. The basic reason why ice is slippery is
not hard to understand. It is caused by the presence of a thin
layer of water on the surface of ice But t