Tsunami Man: Learning about Killer Waves with Walter Dudley

“Walt Dudley waited on the roof of the Naniloa Hotel overlooking Hilo Bay. Eyes glued to the water, ears listening for the ring of his cellular phone, he was watching for a monster. It was a monster speeding across the Pacific Ocean at more than 500 miles per hour. It was a monster with the potential for consuming lives and pulverizing buildings. It was a monster of enormous strength, incredible power, and unbelievable destructiveness.” Tsunamis–the stuff of legends in both ancient and modern times–are some of the world's most destructive natural disasters. But for Dr. Walter Dudley tsunamis are “not just about devastation and destruction, they are about men, women, and children.”

Dr. Dudley's work (see Tsunami!, 1998) has expanded our knowledge of these waves and has helped us to better understand and prepare for these unpredictable, yet ever present, dangers. In Tsunami Man young readers are given an inside look at the life of a working scientist who uses his knowledge for the common good and serves as an exciting role model for future scientists. Filled with dramatic photographs and accounts of tsunami survivors, the book also addresses the “how” and “why” of tsunamis, their impact on human lives, and the ways in which information about these “killer waves” is shared throughout the world.

• Anthony D. Fredericks, Author