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The Wave Watcher's Companion: From Ocean Waves to Light Waves via Shock Waves, Stadium Waves, and All the Rest of Life's Undulations
Get ready for a global journey like none other-a passionate enthusiast's exploration of waves that begins with a massive surfable cloud and ends with the majestic Pacific ocean, making side trips along the way to reveal the ups and downs of brain waves, radio waves, infrared waves, microwaves, shock waves, light waves, and much more.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
67 people are currently reading
937 people want to read
About the author
Gavin Pretor-Pinney
22 books67 followersGavin Pretor-Pinney is cofounder of The Idler magazine in England and founded of The Cloud Appreciation Society in 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 30, 2017
35. The Wave Watcher's Companion: Ocean Waves, Stadium Waves, and All the Rest of Life's Undulations by Gavin Pretor-Pinney
published: 2010
format: 320 page Paperback
acquired: from amazon in 2012
read: Aug 16-30
rating: 3½
Pretor-Pinney is author of The Cloudspotter's Guide and founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. This book I think was a spin-off of all that and very much as the title implies - an informal scientific tour of the waves in all forms and mediums, beginning with how ocean waves form and ending on Hawaii, failing to bodysurf; and also one that tries very hard to be, and does a fairly good job at being, entertaining. There are a lot of things that fall into the wave category, like sound, light, radio waves, seismic waves, and but also oddball things like sand ripples, brain waves in different states or how some flocks of birds confuse predators, etc.
how/why: I originally got this because I work with waves (seismic waves) and this sounded fun and an alternative look at waves, something to broaden my perspective. Five years later, moving bookshelves and their books back and forth to redo the flooring, I found myself paging through it, and I thought I needed something that was off my reading list and reading mindset, and his explanations appealed to me.
in sum: Pretor-Pinney does a great job of simplifying things to point that he actually brings something new to these waves in all their types, and I appreciated that. I particularly liked how he explained how radios work, and his tide explanations and his explanation of wave refraction with blind aliens holding hands. It actually helps. He's accessible, and enjoyable, there are no equations but lots of figures. There are inevitably sections that require the brain time to think something through or to construct a concept. So it's not quite as fast a read as I anticipated.
Certainly recommended to anyone interested.
published: 2010
format: 320 page Paperback
acquired: from amazon in 2012
read: Aug 16-30
rating: 3½
Pretor-Pinney is author of The Cloudspotter's Guide and founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. This book I think was a spin-off of all that and very much as the title implies - an informal scientific tour of the waves in all forms and mediums, beginning with how ocean waves form and ending on Hawaii, failing to bodysurf; and also one that tries very hard to be, and does a fairly good job at being, entertaining. There are a lot of things that fall into the wave category, like sound, light, radio waves, seismic waves, and but also oddball things like sand ripples, brain waves in different states or how some flocks of birds confuse predators, etc.
how/why: I originally got this because I work with waves (seismic waves) and this sounded fun and an alternative look at waves, something to broaden my perspective. Five years later, moving bookshelves and their books back and forth to redo the flooring, I found myself paging through it, and I thought I needed something that was off my reading list and reading mindset, and his explanations appealed to me.
in sum: Pretor-Pinney does a great job of simplifying things to point that he actually brings something new to these waves in all their types, and I appreciated that. I particularly liked how he explained how radios work, and his tide explanations and his explanation of wave refraction with blind aliens holding hands. It actually helps. He's accessible, and enjoyable, there are no equations but lots of figures. There are inevitably sections that require the brain time to think something through or to construct a concept. So it's not quite as fast a read as I anticipated.
Certainly recommended to anyone interested.
August 29, 2010
Information delivered in a relaxed and often laugh under your breath style. While, admittedly, I will read anything about the ocean, I found that all of the other ‘waves’ contained here fascinating. Gavin’s excitement for information is infectious. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to know everything about everything.
December 4, 2013
There are the making of a lovely little book in here, with a little stern editing. The problem is that Pretor-Pinney seems to think that waves of the wet variety aren't meaty enough a topic to fill a whole book, so he expands his scope to include waves of all kinds. On the one hand this does draw in some interesting material from the worlds of optics, acoustics, etc. On the other hand it all gets a bit desperate when he devotes a whole chapter to the invention of the Mexican Wave at sports events, and tries to convince us that the spread of global phenomena like avian flu or the financial crisis can usefully be considered as forms of "information waves".
But when he sticks to describing waves in water there's plenty to enjoy, although I found the somewhat forced jokey tone a little grating at times. As if he didn't trust you to be captivated by the science alone, he has to throw in a feeble joke at the end of the paragraph. It would also have been nice to have a little more reference to waves in the arts and literature, as I seem to remember he did in his excellent Cloudspotter's Guide.
But when he sticks to describing waves in water there's plenty to enjoy, although I found the somewhat forced jokey tone a little grating at times. As if he didn't trust you to be captivated by the science alone, he has to throw in a feeble joke at the end of the paragraph. It would also have been nice to have a little more reference to waves in the arts and literature, as I seem to remember he did in his excellent Cloudspotter's Guide.
July 14, 2021
Mõnus populaarteaduslik lugemine lainetest kõige erinevates vormides - merelainetest, helilainetest, elektromagnetkiirgusest (valgus, uv jne), vihmaussidest ja millest kõigest veel. Stiil on selline natuke ah-mis-nüüd-mina-võhik-sellest-ka-tean, mis ühelt poolt tähendab, et keerulised kontseptid on tõesti lihtsas keeles ja vaimukate näidete abil selgitatid. Teisalt jälle, kes miskit enamat füüsikast mõikab, tahaks ehk jälle konkreetsemat, matemaatilisemalt põhjendatumat keelt. Minu jaoks isiklikult oli tasakaal hea. Ja noh, surfaritele peaks see raamat igal juhul meeldima...
Eriti lahe on see, et Tarmo Soomere on võtnud vaevaks anda väga põhjalikke joonealuseid selgitusi ja üks selgitus oli ka Jüri Kamenikult. Siinkohal tuleb kirjastusele põhjaliku töö eest küll au anda. Seda ka läbimõeldud tõlke eest.
Eriti lahe on see, et Tarmo Soomere on võtnud vaevaks anda väga põhjalikke joonealuseid selgitusi ja üks selgitus oli ka Jüri Kamenikult. Siinkohal tuleb kirjastusele põhjaliku töö eest küll au anda. Seda ka läbimõeldud tõlke eest.
March 10, 2017
I didn't this guy's book about clouds – which I seem to remember being really big – because I'd hate to have my brain go "That's a columbo dentata" every single time I look at the sky, but I saw this wave one in Oxfam and thought it would be safe because I don't live in the sea. I regret that decision because Gavin – Gavin – is one of those pop science writers who feels there has to be a 'joke' every other sentence or the reader will I don't know just drop the book on the floor and wander off in front of a car. There are a few interesting stretches, and halfway through I was thinking, "At least he hasn't used the word 'boffin'," but then on the very next page... There are CBeebies factual programmes that are less pandering that this.
April 27, 2022
Years ago, I read the Cloudspotter's Guide and, to my surprise, was absolutely enthralled; I still recall his account of the pilot who ejected in a thunderstorm and spent some 45 minutes falling and rising (on the powerful upcurrents) before finally reaching the ground barely alive. So my expectations were raised for this book but, sadly, this one never quite hit the heights of clouspotting which clearly remains his first love. Even so, it was still a quirky sideways look at the world of waves from ocean swells and breakers through waves created by bees to scare predators to diffracting colours creating colours on butterflies. I fear the scope was so wide that it could rarely manage the depth I would have preferred and didn't come close to answering my burning wave question - how wide is a light wave? The final chapter on surfing and his ham fisted attempts at mimicking the experts was unexpectedly interesting - even if it was a bit 'what I did on my holidays'. Even so, I feel he should keep his head in the clouds.
February 1, 2023
Aivan ihana lukea aiheesta, josta ei tiedä oikeastaan mitään. Kirjoittaja on tutkinut aihettaan monelta kantilta ja kannen meriaallon kuvasta poiketen käsittelee kaikkia maailman aaltoja ääniaalloista maa-aaltoihin ja sähkömagneettisista aalloista stadionaaltoihin. Melkoinen kokoelma irtonaisia asioita, mutta jollain tavalla kuitenkin kaikki nivoutuu yhteen. Hieno kirja kaiken kaikkiaan.
July 28, 2023
Fantastically informative, while reading like a novel. I could hardly put it down and would recommend it to everyone. I love to learn when I read, and read the cloudspotters guide about ten years ago. It has never left my mind so I bought it and this to read it again. I can hardly wait to start clouds again.
December 3, 2024
Delightful, informative, and witty popular science book on all things waves by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. Having read his earlier work, _The Cloudspotter’s Guide_, I definitely agree with his statement “that cloudspotting leads naturally to wavewatching,” as when reading the book on clouds, I could easily see that understanding waves was key to understanding the formation of many types of clouds and an interest in clouds could indeed lead one to an interest in waves.
The book is divided into an introduction (“Wavewatching for Beginners”) and nine chapters about different types of waves, along the way introducing additional relevant concepts about waves. The introduction had very accessible discussions of such things as wavelength, wave height, crest, trough, amplitude, sine wave versus trochoidal wave, the different stages in the lifecycle of an ocean wave as well as the overall physics, capillary waves, and the three types of breakers (spilling, plunging, and surging). Helpfully, there are frequent diagrams and illustrations for the various terms.
“The First Wave: Which Passes Through Us All,” was a chapter primarily on different biowaves, including the coordinated muscular waves of the heartbeat, the peristaltic wave that is part of digestion, the three basic forms of wave needed to understand waves in general – transverse, longitudinal, and torsional – with the author illustrating how different animals move with these different types of waves, brain waves (and the four different bands), and had an interesting section on torsional waves and bridges.
“The Second Wave: Which Fills Our World With Music” was mainly on acoustic waves (a type of longitudinal wave) and using acoustic waves especially to inform the reader on the three basic “Ways of the Wave,” involving reflection (“Waves bounce off stuff”), refraction (“Waves tend to change direction as they pass from one material to another”), and diffraction (“Waves spread around small obstacles as if they weren’t there, and spread out in all directions when they emerge from a small opening”), concepts important to understanding waves in general. Also, some interesting sections on using SONAR to detect submarines and the wave-related 1947 Roswell, New Mexico incident.
“The Third Wave: On Which Our Information Age Depends” was on how waves convey information, whether ripples alerting fishermen to a fish to analyzing waves in the background microwave in astronomy to the use of electromagnetic waves in communications (and a discussion of how they differ from mechanical waves such as sound and water surface waves as well as an introduction to the electromagnetic spectrum). Also, an important discussion of resonance and three simple facts about it that are relevant to a general understanding of waves.
“The Fourth Wave: Which Goes With the Flow,” introduces the reader to what a standing wave is (with examples such as lenticular clouds) and had a fascinating discussion of whether or not sand dunes and traffic waves on roads are waves or not (they are not, they are “dissipative systems” and fundamentally different from a normal progressive wave).
“The Fifth Wave: When Waves Turn Nasty” was on shock waves, with mostly violent examples like traumatic brain injury in war from shock waves from improvised explosive devices or IEDs as well a discussion of volcanic explosions and thunder shock waves, but also positive examples like shock waves used to break up kidney stones. Also, lots of discussion of earthquakes and the two types of those waves (longitudinal primary waves or P waves and traverse secondary waves or S waves) and shock waves associated with jets breaking the sound barrier and with the cracking of whips.
“The Sixth Wave: Which Flows Between Us” was on different biowaves again, this time information waves, including bee shimmering waves, waves associated with social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, stadium waves at sporting events, chain chorusing waves among groups of hippos, and waves among flocks of starlings in flight. Also included among information waves were a discussion of memes and waves associated with the stock market.
“The Seventh Wave: Which Ebbs and Flows” was on primarily on the tide (not tidal) wave, with a wonderful discussion of tides including tidal bores, tidal bore surfing (witnessed by the author), and various famous tidal bores like the Silver Dragon in the Qiantang River near Hangzhou, China.
“The Eighth Wave: Which Brings Color to Our World" started out on wave interference and had a brilliant discussion on how interference gives the brilliant blue Morpho butterfly of Latin American its color. Later, the discussion is on light as a wave and had a detailed and interesting discussion of the wave-particle duality of light and how science still grapples with the “split personality of light” and how it can be described both in terms of frequency and in terms of the energy of the photons. What could have been a complex chapter dealing with the work of Max Planck and Albert Einstein was admirably accessible.
“The Ninth Wave: Which Comes Crashing Ashore” was like in his _The Cloudspotter’s Guide_ a field trip by the author, though not to see particularly famous clouds but to see particularly famous waves. In this case, the waves of the north shore of Oahu in such places as Waimea Bay and the Banzai Pipeline. The author discussed the various waves at various places along the north shore (and they are different), the physics and history of surfing, the different types of surfboards and their uses, and spent a good bit of time on bodysurfing, with the author himself bodysurfing with a famed bodysurfing expert. A delightful and informative chapter.
Packed with illustrations, has end notes and an index.
The book is divided into an introduction (“Wavewatching for Beginners”) and nine chapters about different types of waves, along the way introducing additional relevant concepts about waves. The introduction had very accessible discussions of such things as wavelength, wave height, crest, trough, amplitude, sine wave versus trochoidal wave, the different stages in the lifecycle of an ocean wave as well as the overall physics, capillary waves, and the three types of breakers (spilling, plunging, and surging). Helpfully, there are frequent diagrams and illustrations for the various terms.
“The First Wave: Which Passes Through Us All,” was a chapter primarily on different biowaves, including the coordinated muscular waves of the heartbeat, the peristaltic wave that is part of digestion, the three basic forms of wave needed to understand waves in general – transverse, longitudinal, and torsional – with the author illustrating how different animals move with these different types of waves, brain waves (and the four different bands), and had an interesting section on torsional waves and bridges.
“The Second Wave: Which Fills Our World With Music” was mainly on acoustic waves (a type of longitudinal wave) and using acoustic waves especially to inform the reader on the three basic “Ways of the Wave,” involving reflection (“Waves bounce off stuff”), refraction (“Waves tend to change direction as they pass from one material to another”), and diffraction (“Waves spread around small obstacles as if they weren’t there, and spread out in all directions when they emerge from a small opening”), concepts important to understanding waves in general. Also, some interesting sections on using SONAR to detect submarines and the wave-related 1947 Roswell, New Mexico incident.
“The Third Wave: On Which Our Information Age Depends” was on how waves convey information, whether ripples alerting fishermen to a fish to analyzing waves in the background microwave in astronomy to the use of electromagnetic waves in communications (and a discussion of how they differ from mechanical waves such as sound and water surface waves as well as an introduction to the electromagnetic spectrum). Also, an important discussion of resonance and three simple facts about it that are relevant to a general understanding of waves.
“The Fourth Wave: Which Goes With the Flow,” introduces the reader to what a standing wave is (with examples such as lenticular clouds) and had a fascinating discussion of whether or not sand dunes and traffic waves on roads are waves or not (they are not, they are “dissipative systems” and fundamentally different from a normal progressive wave).
“The Fifth Wave: When Waves Turn Nasty” was on shock waves, with mostly violent examples like traumatic brain injury in war from shock waves from improvised explosive devices or IEDs as well a discussion of volcanic explosions and thunder shock waves, but also positive examples like shock waves used to break up kidney stones. Also, lots of discussion of earthquakes and the two types of those waves (longitudinal primary waves or P waves and traverse secondary waves or S waves) and shock waves associated with jets breaking the sound barrier and with the cracking of whips.
“The Sixth Wave: Which Flows Between Us” was on different biowaves again, this time information waves, including bee shimmering waves, waves associated with social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, stadium waves at sporting events, chain chorusing waves among groups of hippos, and waves among flocks of starlings in flight. Also included among information waves were a discussion of memes and waves associated with the stock market.
“The Seventh Wave: Which Ebbs and Flows” was on primarily on the tide (not tidal) wave, with a wonderful discussion of tides including tidal bores, tidal bore surfing (witnessed by the author), and various famous tidal bores like the Silver Dragon in the Qiantang River near Hangzhou, China.
“The Eighth Wave: Which Brings Color to Our World" started out on wave interference and had a brilliant discussion on how interference gives the brilliant blue Morpho butterfly of Latin American its color. Later, the discussion is on light as a wave and had a detailed and interesting discussion of the wave-particle duality of light and how science still grapples with the “split personality of light” and how it can be described both in terms of frequency and in terms of the energy of the photons. What could have been a complex chapter dealing with the work of Max Planck and Albert Einstein was admirably accessible.
“The Ninth Wave: Which Comes Crashing Ashore” was like in his _The Cloudspotter’s Guide_ a field trip by the author, though not to see particularly famous clouds but to see particularly famous waves. In this case, the waves of the north shore of Oahu in such places as Waimea Bay and the Banzai Pipeline. The author discussed the various waves at various places along the north shore (and they are different), the physics and history of surfing, the different types of surfboards and their uses, and spent a good bit of time on bodysurfing, with the author himself bodysurfing with a famed bodysurfing expert. A delightful and informative chapter.
Packed with illustrations, has end notes and an index.
April 21, 2016
I enjoyed it a lot. Surprisingly. Though its not only about ocean waves, I actually, for once, enjoyed all the physics involved in this!
Gavin is also a very humorous author.
P.S. Beware Chapter "The Eighth Wave" near the end. There's a face of a fruit fly. I screamed out loud.
Gavin is also a very humorous author.
P.S. Beware Chapter "The Eighth Wave" near the end. There's a face of a fruit fly. I screamed out loud.
May 19, 2020
Why did I pick this book?
I read Pretor-Pinney's first book - the Cloudspotters Guide- and loved it. That first book is all about clouds. What types of cloud there are, how they form, great anecdotes on clouds and all their shapes and sizes, mixed in with a good dose of exquisite British humor.
Finding this second book in a thrift store, and being a surfer, I just had to buy it.
The book
The book is structured similar to Pretor-Pinney's first book; with several chapters on different themes, loads of images with hilarious captions and short three-ish word notes in the margins. Pretor-Pinney covers the topic in both a general perspective and at times quite in depth. The second to last chapter, for example, explains all the details on the theory of light being both particles and waves, while the second chapter focuses on the bloodstream being a wave within the body.
There's also chapters on butterflies, cognitive links and synapses, etc.
My recommendation
If you've enjoyed Pretor-Pinney's first book, and you stumble across this book, then it's a great read. Pinney's retained his classical style of writing and applied it to a whole new topic.
If you're a surfer and thought this might be a good reference on how ocean waves form, than you better keep looking for a different book, as only three chapters are about waves in water, with one of them being the personal account of how Pinney went surfing in Hawaii.
If you're unfamiliar yet with Gaving Pretor-Pinney I without a doubt recommend his first book more than this one.
I read Pretor-Pinney's first book - the Cloudspotters Guide- and loved it. That first book is all about clouds. What types of cloud there are, how they form, great anecdotes on clouds and all their shapes and sizes, mixed in with a good dose of exquisite British humor.
Finding this second book in a thrift store, and being a surfer, I just had to buy it.
The book
The book is structured similar to Pretor-Pinney's first book; with several chapters on different themes, loads of images with hilarious captions and short three-ish word notes in the margins. Pretor-Pinney covers the topic in both a general perspective and at times quite in depth. The second to last chapter, for example, explains all the details on the theory of light being both particles and waves, while the second chapter focuses on the bloodstream being a wave within the body.
There's also chapters on butterflies, cognitive links and synapses, etc.
My recommendation
If you've enjoyed Pretor-Pinney's first book, and you stumble across this book, then it's a great read. Pinney's retained his classical style of writing and applied it to a whole new topic.
If you're a surfer and thought this might be a good reference on how ocean waves form, than you better keep looking for a different book, as only three chapters are about waves in water, with one of them being the personal account of how Pinney went surfing in Hawaii.
If you're unfamiliar yet with Gaving Pretor-Pinney I without a doubt recommend his first book more than this one.
April 8, 2025
Gavin Pretor-Pinney discusses waves of many variety from a scientific perspective. Unlike most science books, this one is very readable. His prose is almost poetic at times, I found myself rereading a few sections for the imagery, not the science. And there wasn't one metaphor - unless I just missed it.
The book is completely devoid of math. Still, it discusses details in a number of fields that help you to understand different phenomena. He starts and ends with ocean waves. He covers what drives them from their birth, what sustains them, and what give them their differing appearances and sizes. Different chapters discuss sound waves, supersonic flight, shock waves, light waves and more. In giving examples of different effects, he finds interesting trivia to fill the book.
One of the first things I noticed was that there is some italic text next to some paragraphs, partially indented into the text block. It seems to be fairly random at times, yet makes sense with respect to the paragraphs after having read it. My guess is that it would provide a memory assist when trying to either recall portions of the book or looking for a passage.
Overall, the book is very enjoyable and a moderately fast read. You don't have to be a science nerd to enjoy it. If you are a science nerd, the lack of equations won't be missed.
The book is completely devoid of math. Still, it discusses details in a number of fields that help you to understand different phenomena. He starts and ends with ocean waves. He covers what drives them from their birth, what sustains them, and what give them their differing appearances and sizes. Different chapters discuss sound waves, supersonic flight, shock waves, light waves and more. In giving examples of different effects, he finds interesting trivia to fill the book.
One of the first things I noticed was that there is some italic text next to some paragraphs, partially indented into the text block. It seems to be fairly random at times, yet makes sense with respect to the paragraphs after having read it. My guess is that it would provide a memory assist when trying to either recall portions of the book or looking for a passage.
Overall, the book is very enjoyable and a moderately fast read. You don't have to be a science nerd to enjoy it. If you are a science nerd, the lack of equations won't be missed.
June 17, 2025
What an interesting read. The beginning has a lot of terrible jokes, almost as if someone was trying to nervously make you laugh. But as you read on, the content becomes more at ease with itself, and what I enjoyed was the layman's description of several physical phenomenas.
Put another way: it was nice to receive a flurry of physics lesson from someone who clearly spent a long time thinking about them, and thinking through how to communicate all the different forms of waves there are in the world. It touches upon quantum physics, vision, sound, energy and so on.
The ending in Hawaii was nice, going back to the actual water waves and giving almost a final tour of them, not from a theoretical point of view, but from an experimental one.
Put another way: it was nice to receive a flurry of physics lesson from someone who clearly spent a long time thinking about them, and thinking through how to communicate all the different forms of waves there are in the world. It touches upon quantum physics, vision, sound, energy and so on.
The ending in Hawaii was nice, going back to the actual water waves and giving almost a final tour of them, not from a theoretical point of view, but from an experimental one.
August 29, 2022
Each chapter of this book is about 30 pages long. This format gives you a light at the end of the tunnel for when the pages are starting to drag on. In some chapters it seems like the author used more anecdotes and less actual information, and from there you could tell that he might not have known so much about the topic he was writing about. In other chapters you could tell that he knew a lot about what he was writing about, but because he aimed to keep the chapters at equal lengths, some of that knowledge needed to be omitted.
Overall, a pretty good book about ocean waves (mainly), and some other types of waves, although the information about ocean waves is by far the most complete in the whole book.
Overall, a pretty good book about ocean waves (mainly), and some other types of waves, although the information about ocean waves is by far the most complete in the whole book.
September 20, 2018
I wish I'd read a few reviews before buying this, having previously read Susan Casey's excellent book 'The Wave' I was hoping for something in a similar vein, and whilst the first chapter or two, did indeed describe the ones we all know from watching bodies of water in motion, he then strectched the definition of a wave to such a degree, that even by his own admission, it was tenuous at best.
That said, as an amuse bouche of wave related trivia, it's OK, but as a companion? Hardly IMHO ...
That said, as an amuse bouche of wave related trivia, it's OK, but as a companion? Hardly IMHO ...
January 14, 2019
One of the things I like about this book is that it is written in a way that makes you want to know more. The author clearly loves what he is doing and the text seems to be permeated by this love. There are plenty of interesting facts and stories that you probably didn't know. For example, why sound travels farther in the foggy weather or what happens when you exceed the speed of sound. My favorite one is about area 51. From the downsides: some of the chapters are quite lengthy and don't contain much of the useful information. I didn't like the surfing part, but other people may like it.
October 16, 2023
It's a long time since I read Gavin Pretor-Pinney's Cloud Spotter's Guide but I expected something similar. The lousy photographic reproduction quality was the same, as was the likeable tone, but the subject matter was different as many kinds of non-wet waves are explained, a long way from the pondering on the beach implied by the cover image (and by the previous book) Too much of the book became just words for me, which I think says more about my ability to grasp physics than the author's ability to explain it.
February 1, 2025
I'm only giving this one four because there were numerous times when I lost the train completely and really had no idea what he was talking about. His 'helpful' real world analogies were not always so helpful. Having said that, he is an engaging writer, and more than any book in my recent memory he told me about things that I just HAD to find out more about...Viola d'Amore, the visible light spectrum, Planck's constant...and the last chapter was reassuringly warm and almost spiritual, especially to a passive wavewatcher as myself. I'll be looking at my favourite beach with new eyes.
April 8, 2025
A comprehensive study for the enthusiastic wave watcher. Weaving together some serious science along with the author's trademark humour. At the end of this you will never look at ocean waves or any other type of wave the same again. You will learn just how far waves can travel and why, what causes them and the myriad of places where you encounter waves without thinking. A really enjoyable read that will delight.
July 7, 2018
Not what i was expecting, though it's difficult to see how a book on water waves could be engaging for that many pages! Instead, this is a lovely book about all waves that we know about. I learned a lot and am still thinking about it a lot. Sometimes hard to get into but once started reluctant to put down. Thank you Gavin for giving us wavewatching.
February 17, 2025
Most of this book was understandable, but I did struggle a bit with the quantum physics of light behaving as waves and particles at the same time. It was generally well written although some of the diagrams were unhelpful and some pictures were quite silly. I think I didn't quite get his humour; but still overall an enjoyable and educational read.
December 19, 2020
Brilliant book; the right balance of personal experience, humour and scientific explanation to make it easy to read. The last chapter was a great topic to end on. I wanted more, so I went onto YouTube and watched surfing in Waimea Bay and Mark Cunningham and others body surfing.
July 11, 2017
The first few chapters included a few bits I didn't know about water and ocean waves but the rest was ehh. I wish the book had discussed Stokes drift and other second-order effects more.
August 16, 2017
Me gustaría que se hubiera quedado con las olas del mar, el resto me interesa menos.
December 6, 2018
Much broader range of waves than I was expecting.
August 14, 2020
A book all about waves from water to electro-magnetic. Full of interesting facts, but lacked structure as it jumped around a bit, and felt at times like a series of wave-related asides. At its best where Pretor-Pinney lets his passion loose and expresses the romance of waves, but there isn't enough of this. Too often, the tone is consciously light-hearted, constantly trying to remind you it's not a "serious science book", which distracts from the most interesting bits for me.
March 3, 2014
"Apparently, once you reach old age, your body can contain none of the molecules it did when you were a newborn. ... Though the time scales are very different, a wave passes through the medium of the water in much the same way that you pass through the 'medium' of all the physical bits of your body." (35)
"Wave watchers are thinkers, and contemplating how waves 'bounce' will help them realize a fundamental truth: waves are energy passing through things, and not things in and of themselves." (81)
"Video films from aircraft have shown that regardless of how large the jam is, the speed a spontaneous cluster of cars propagates backward along the road is always around 12mph." (159)
"Bizarrely, of the seventy-five people who participated in this [survey], all the wavers in Europe remembered their waves travelling clockwise around the stadium, while 70 percent of those from Australia remembered them going counterclockwise. ... [W]ith stadium waves it seems there may just be some anecdotal truth to a hemispherical difference." (207)
"Wave watchers are thinkers, and contemplating how waves 'bounce' will help them realize a fundamental truth: waves are energy passing through things, and not things in and of themselves." (81)
"Video films from aircraft have shown that regardless of how large the jam is, the speed a spontaneous cluster of cars propagates backward along the road is always around 12mph." (159)
"Bizarrely, of the seventy-five people who participated in this [survey], all the wavers in Europe remembered their waves travelling clockwise around the stadium, while 70 percent of those from Australia remembered them going counterclockwise. ... [W]ith stadium waves it seems there may just be some anecdotal truth to a hemispherical difference." (207)
June 27, 2015
Written in a way that easy for anyone to understand but fully lacking all the information. I found myself reaching for my iPhone continuously to search google for more information on the terms thrown into the paragraphs with no further information. Trochoidal, as an example.
In the beginning, Gavin Pretor-Pinney's way of moving quickly from one topic to another was slightly bothersome, but as I read further on I became adjusted to his multiple off takes and found the book rather interesting with its multitude of "waves types". I was initially a little disappointed with the lack of depth given to water waves, but given his style of description of these types of waves which I didn't find to be comprehensive or easy to understand, I was glad that he ventured into other types of "waves" which he described rather well and in an enjoyable manner. I loved the chapter on surfing waves and his humble way of recounting his experiences, and had he written a whole book on surfing waves around the world I think it would be a fantastic book to read.
In the beginning, Gavin Pretor-Pinney's way of moving quickly from one topic to another was slightly bothersome, but as I read further on I became adjusted to his multiple off takes and found the book rather interesting with its multitude of "waves types". I was initially a little disappointed with the lack of depth given to water waves, but given his style of description of these types of waves which I didn't find to be comprehensive or easy to understand, I was glad that he ventured into other types of "waves" which he described rather well and in an enjoyable manner. I loved the chapter on surfing waves and his humble way of recounting his experiences, and had he written a whole book on surfing waves around the world I think it would be a fantastic book to read.
May 25, 2011
I loved Pretor-Pinney's "The Cloudspotter's Guide," and this Companion is another tour-de-force in popular science writing. Pretor-Pinney's natural charm and wit show through in his writing, which is well-researched and easy to understand. This book is much more ambitious than the Cloudspotter's Guide, since wave phenomena are present in many more scientific areas than clouds, which are mostly limited to meteorology. However, the format of part-science book, part-travel narrative is the same as the Guide, and it works reasonably well here.
His book builds on itself, from the very basic ocean waves to part-particle-part-wave photons, but it occasionally lost me in the minutiae of certain aspects of waves. I feel that he also could have chosen his examples better, although all were interesting.
His book builds on itself, from the very basic ocean waves to part-particle-part-wave photons, but it occasionally lost me in the minutiae of certain aspects of waves. I feel that he also could have chosen his examples better, although all were interesting.
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