The Wavewatcher's Companion

Synopsis

One bright February afternoon on a beach in Cornwall, Gavin<br/>Pretor-Pinney took a break from cloudspotting and started watching the<br/>waves rolling into shore. Mesmerised, he wondered where they had come<br/>from, and decided to find out. He soon realised that waves don't just<br/>appear on the ocean, they are everywhere around us, and our lives<br/>depend on them.<br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/>From the rippling beats of our hearts, to the movement of food through<br/>our digestive tracts and of signals across our brains, waves are the<br/>transport systems of our bodies. Everything we see and hear reaches us<br/>via light and sound waves, and our information age is reliant on the<br/>microwaves and infrared waves used by the telephone and internet<br/>infrastructure. From shockwaves unleashed by explosions to torsional<br/>waves that cause suspension bridges to collapse, from sonar waves that<br/>allow submarines to �see' with sound to Mexican waves that sweep<br/>through stadium crowds... there were waves, it seemed, wherever Gavin<br/>looked. But what, he wondered, could they all have in common with ones<br/>we splash around in on holiday?<br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/>By the time he made the ultimate surfer's pilgrimage to Hawaii, Gavin<br/>had become a world-class wavewatcher, although he was still rubbish at<br/>surfing. And, while this fascinating, funny book may not teach you how<br/>to ride the waves, it will show you how to tune into the shapes,<br/>colours and forms of life's many undulations.<br/> <br/> <br/>