Preface.- 1 A land of illusions and thin air.- 2 The cosmovision of the ancient inhabitants of the desert, a look through the cave painting.- 3 Life in Cuatro Ciénegas, a historical tour of the Coahuila desert between the XVI and XIX centuries, its people, and their relationship with the environment.- 4 Water as a socializing element. Hydraulic culture in New Spain between the 16th and the 18th centuries.- 5 Environmental conservation, water and wetland governance in Mexico.- 6 Cuatro Ciénegas, an aquifer at risk of overexploitation.- 7 Demise of Churince.- 8 Plants as a canary in the mine: A wetland response to ecosystem failure.- 9 Can bacterial populations go extinct? Evolutionary biology and bacterial studies in Cuatro Ciénegas shed light on the extinction process.- 10 Children can save the world, CBTa 22, Rural High school as a social experiment for a sustainable future.- 11 Conservation of the most diverse oasis of the world and the future of our path in the deserts: Lessons from Cuatro Ciénegas to the world.- Index.