Member (and author) Scott Martelle has this review in today's Los Angeles Times of Susan Casey's new book, "The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean," about two small circles of people -- those who study monster waves at sea, and those who try to surf them. From his piece:
Susan Casey's new book on waves and the people who love them begins in January 2000 with scientists aboard the 295-foot British research ship Discovery trying to collect data from the North Atlantic.
But the ocean threw a fit, heaving itself into massive waves far exceeding predictive models and threatening to destroy the Discovery.After a week of bouncing around like an egg poaching in boiling water, the ship's captain finally was able to hide behind the Hebrides Islands from waves that topped 100 feet — one of the first scientific confirmations that monster waves do exist, even though computer modeling programs say they can't....
Framed in two tracks, the book dives deeply into the world of top-level surfers who chase massive breaks around the globe and less deeply into the realm of scientists seeking to understand one of the biggest mysteries of the natural world: How do waves work? And given their history of destruction, what the does the future hold for millions of people living dangerously close to sea level?
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