[UA] To the XTREEEEEM!

[Greg Stolze]

I got this book at the library called "Science at the Extreme" by Peter
Lane Taylor.  It sounded just okay but which turned out to combine two very
enjoyable genres of writing: Comprehensible scientific writing, and danger
porn.  ("Danger porn" is my pet phrase for writing about people taking
risks -- you know, stuff like "Into Thin Air" and "The Perfect Storm.")

This book is all about scientists who, the the pursuit of their research or
conservation efforts, have to do stuff that most people would consider
BATSHIT CRAZY.  Some examples include...

* Ronis Da Silveira, who's conserving (read "capturing") black caiman
alligators (or were they crocodiles?).  Essentially, this means he floats
down the river at night, in a small boat that's already dangerously
overloaded, then goes hand-to-hand with 14-foot long, 740 pound critters
whose jaws can snap a man in half through his thickest part.  Or, for that
matter, a boat.

* Louise Hose, a caver fascinated with Cueva de las Sardinas.  It's a
sulphrous cave filled with a variety of poison gasses (CO concentrations
like "running a NASCAR race in a toolshed") and mud so acidic it can boil
your skin.  The cave is partially submerged, so rotted by the sulphuric
acid that the map changes weekly, and it's suffused by a gas that takes the
place of calcium and potassium in the brain's nerve cells, producing
confusion, nausea, and loss of balance.  But this place is a goldmine of
biological samples, where finding a new species is as easy as scraping a
wall.  Oh, plus, the cave is located in a region of civil unrest.

* Steve Sillett routinely climbs trees that are twice as high as the Statue
of Liberty to explore the high-altitude epiphytes that live on the upper
surfaces of giant redwoods and sequoias.  (They found a full grown
huckleberry book up there.)

* Brian Latta is another climber, but he's got to go up on giant, greasy
skyscrapers and suspension bridges to rescue baby peregrine falcons and
relocate them to safer nests.  In addition to dealing with updrafts, trucks
driving by overhead, and the vicissitudes of urban climbing, he also
usually has to go toe to talon with the mama falcon, who has inch-long
razor claws and can hit top diving speeds of 200 mph while trying to drop
on the head of the guy taking her children.

These people fascinate me.  They've clearly got incredible physical
development coupled with advanced and specialized scientific knowledge.  I
was reading this book and picturing them as UA characters -- probably
completely clueless, but built along the lines of a Global character.
Certainly they're self-assured, respected, unflappable, curious and
capable.  I mean, do you think YOUR character could back Ronis Da Silveira
down with a mean look?  That Louise Hose is going to run into a
Helplessness check she can't hack?

What do you think?

-G.

"We ought all to support the President.  He is the man who has all the
information and knowledge of what we are up against."
	-Governor Nelson Rockefeller, responding to criticism of
	President Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War

www.waylay.com
www.thehungersite.com



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