Surf Science

Book excerpt: Have you ever wondered where surf­ing waves come from, what makes every wave dif­fer­ent, why some peel per­fectly and oth­ers just close out; why, some days, the waves come in sets and other days they don’t, and how the tides, the wind and the shape of the sea floor affect the waves for surf­ing? If you have, this book is for you. Now in its third edi­tion, Surf Sci­ence is the first book to talk in depth about the sci­ence of waves from a surfer’s point of view. It fills the gap between surf­ing books and waves text­books, and will help you learn how to pre­dict surf. Surf Sci­ence is also a use­ful intro­duc­tion to ocean­o­graphy and the sci­ence of waves. You don’t need a sci­entific back­ground to read it – just curi­os­ity and a fas­cin­a­tion for waves.