Ghiaccio Nove by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

A sardonic narrator traces the life and legacy of a brilliant but indifferent scientist whose final invention — a crystalline form of water that instantly freezes any liquid it touches — becomes a doomsday device. In pursuing the story he encounters the scientist’s eccentric children, a mock-religion called Bokononism, and the poverty-stricken Caribbean island where political cynicism and superstition collide, exposing how human vanity, scientific irresponsibility, and blind faith combine to bring about catastrophic consequences. The result is a darkly comic satire on science, religion, and the absurd search for meaning in a chaotic world.