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maximum_moxie's review
5.0
Science books often fall into one of two camps: too scientific for the layman to fathom or too simplistic to do justice to the subject. This book succeeds in avoiding both. Out of the dozens of fashionable scientific books on popular shelves, this is possibly the best I've encountered.
The Wave follows two kinds of "wave chasers", big-wave surfers and tsunami/big wave researchers, in their quests to conquer and understand the power of the ocean. The personal stories of the surfers, many of whom died while the book was in progress, are just as fascinating as the scientific data behind the waves they follow. Looking behind the glamour of these mysterious forces of nature, Casey uncovers the progress made in research and presents it in writing as readable (or more so) than a novel's.
Highly recommended all around.
The Wave follows two kinds of "wave chasers", big-wave surfers and tsunami/big wave researchers, in their quests to conquer and understand the power of the ocean. The personal stories of the surfers, many of whom died while the book was in progress, are just as fascinating as the scientific data behind the waves they follow. Looking behind the glamour of these mysterious forces of nature, Casey uncovers the progress made in research and presents it in writing as readable (or more so) than a novel's.
Highly recommended all around.
jbabiarz's review
4.0
Great book! My first thought was "how is she going to write a 300-page book about waves and keep it interesting?" But she did. I learned so much about surfing and waves, and it kept my interest the whole time. I highly recommend.
tegmo's review
2.0
I didn’t enjoy his book and skimmed about 80% of it purely so I can talk about it for a book club. There was far to much narration of the author’s experience researching the book which felt unneeded - her experience wasn’t that interesting. And I had trouble really feeling much interest in big wave surfing after the initial chapters.
the_schaef's review
4.0
Enjoyable. An unusual mixture of science and surfing. It would have been made better if there were some diagrams to explain wave action better, or if specific the reader could have been directed to specific websites. The surfing was great fun, and YouTube has lots of big wave videos to enjoy.
arielamandah's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Loved it. But this is my favorite type of pop-nonfiction: a documentary-style book that bounces back and forth between science and oddities and human stories. Casey does a lovely job weaving together the science of big waves and surf stories. There’s a chapter here on Lituya Bay in Alaska that will live in my brain for a long, long time.
gfmatt's review
Just based on the cover and subtitle, I expected a book about the science of waves. This book is also about the people who go in search of the largest waves they can find to surf, and how they feel about what they do. It's also about the author's experiences with those people. The Wave is well-written and appears to be well-researched (the topic is new to me, so what do I know?); it was also entertaining and educational.
ptothelo's review
4.0
Reading this book made me want to go back to Hawaii again. Barring that, at least watch Hawaii 5-0 on TV. The book focuses more on the surfers than on the science, which was fine with me. I'd seen Laird Hamilton on an episode of Iconoclast before and found him fascinating and this got more into his and other surfers' view about nature and the water and riding the waves. For some, when they are in the zone it's a spiritual experience and one of them says you can't see and feel those waves and not acknowledge that there is a power much greater than you. I imagine that the experience is the very definition of living in the moment and being one with the forces of nature.
The science was also intriguing. I have never really learned much about what goes on below the surface, with all it's ridges and canyons and faults. I've also never thought of ocean waves having the same properties as the waves physicists study. Given all the talk of tsunamis and climate change lately it seems like a good time to learn. The author makes the point that we rarely hear about the lost ships, from giant freighters to smaller ships. One scientist estimates that on average two large ships sink per week each year. But we never hear about them and their lost crew and lost cargo so no one is pushing them to build safer ships like we would if the same happened to a plane.
I feel like the take away message from both ends is that you can't really predict any of it and Mother Nature can always do the unexpected and throw something at you that is bigger and badder than anything you can dream up.
The science was also intriguing. I have never really learned much about what goes on below the surface, with all it's ridges and canyons and faults. I've also never thought of ocean waves having the same properties as the waves physicists study. Given all the talk of tsunamis and climate change lately it seems like a good time to learn. The author makes the point that we rarely hear about the lost ships, from giant freighters to smaller ships. One scientist estimates that on average two large ships sink per week each year. But we never hear about them and their lost crew and lost cargo so no one is pushing them to build safer ships like we would if the same happened to a plane.
I feel like the take away message from both ends is that you can't really predict any of it and Mother Nature can always do the unexpected and throw something at you that is bigger and badder than anything you can dream up.