Some of you may remember that I really enjoyed Trying Leviathan about an 1818 trial in NYC about whether a whale is fish or not, that book uses the trial lenses to explore how people at the time thought about whales. So when I saw the same author had written a book about 20th century whale science I was excited. But I didn't realize until I was given a copy of this book that it was giant, over 600 pages. Anyways this was amazingly meticulously researched book full of fascinating information. I would have liked a bit more focus on how ordinary people thought about whales and bit less committee process. So part of this where a bit of a slog for me. However if you are interested in the nitty gritty of how science and policy interact this book is a treasure trove.