The Wave
In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean
1 of 1 copy available
For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently scientists dismissed these stories—waves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics. But in the past few decades, as a startling number of ships vanished and new evidence has emerged, oceanographers realized something scary was brewing in the planet’s waters. They found their proof in February 2000, when a British research vessel was trapped in a vortex of impossibly mammoth waves in the North Sea—including several that approached 100 feet.
As scientists scramble to understand this phenomenon, others view the giant waves as the ultimate challenge. These are extreme surfers who fly around the world trying to ride the ocean’s most destructive monsters. The pioneer of extreme surfing is the legendary Laird Hamilton, who, with a group of friends in Hawaii, figured out how to board suicidally large waves of 70 and 80 feet. Casey follows this unique tribe of people as they seek to conquer the holy grail of their sport, a 100-foot wave.
In this mesmerizing account, the exploits of Hamilton and his fellow surfers are juxtaposed against scientists’ urgent efforts to understand the destructive powers of waves—from the tsunami that wiped out 250,000 people in the Pacific in 2004 to the 1,740-foot-wave that recently leveled part of the Alaskan coast.
Like Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, The Wave brilliantly portrays human beings confronting nature at its most ferocious.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 14, 2010 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780307578105
- File size: 300623 KB
- Duration: 10:26:17
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Ocean waves reaching heights of 100 feet or more have populated legends for thousands of years. With current science at last proving their existence, Casey documents the physics behind the formation of such waves and depicts the people who try to either ride or avoid them. Kirsten Potter captures the scientific gravity of these giant walls of water and the drama of encountering them. Her portrayals of the author's excursions with the world's best surfers blend perfectly with the technical descriptions of wave propagation. Potter's steady and understated vocal tones convey both terror and exhilaration with equal ease, as well as delivering the scientific detachment that befits sober technical study. R.L.L. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine -
August 9, 2010
Casey, O magazine editor-in-chief, travels across the world and into the past to confront the largest waves the oceans have to offer. This dangerous water includes rogue waves south of Africa, storm-born giants near Hawaii, and the biggest wave ever recorded, a 1,740 foot-high wall of wave (taller than one and a third Empire State Buildings) that blasted the Alaska coastline in 1958. Casey follows big-wave surfers in their often suicidal attempts to tackle monsters made of H2O, and also interviews scientists exploring the danger that global warning will bring us more and larger waves. Casey writes compellingly of the threat and beauty of the ocean at its most dangerous. We get vivid historical reconstructions and her firsthand account of being on a jet-ski watching surfers risk their lives. Casey also smoothly translates the science of her subject into engaging prose. This book will fascinate anyone who has even the slightest interest in the oceans that surround us.
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