Chris Clor/Plainpicture
HOW many pieces of scientific research have been embraced by Hollywood film-makers? Probably fewer than should have been, but perhaps more than we might have expected. Older readers may remember The Poseidon Adventure, a 1972 disaster movie in which an ocean liner is capsized by a monster wave. In our 6 January 1977 issue, we warned that such waves, though poorly understood, were certainly more common than had been thought. “Killer waves”, we reported, were more likely at the continental edge where the sea-floor topography suddenly rises more steeply. We surmised that the loss of the SS Waratah off…
