It's hard to complain when a book is published that describes some of the science behind waves. Like Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, The Wave brilliantly portrays human beings confronting nature at its most ferocious. 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. Casey follows this unique tribe of people as they seek to conquer the holy grail of their sport, a 100-foot wave. 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. These are extreme surfers who fly around the world trying to ride the ocean’s most destructive monsters. 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.Īs scientists scramble to understand this phenomenon, others view the giant waves as the ultimate challenge.

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.

Until recently scientists dismissed these stories-waves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics. From Susan Casey, bestselling author of The Devil’s Teeth, an astonishing book about colossal, ship-swallowing rogue waves and the surfers who seek them out.įor centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller.

The Wave by Susan Casey