“I’m going to see that tornado one day.”

Last week tornado chaser Tim Samaras died chasing a tornado in Oklahoma. The same storm killed his son, twenty-four years old, and a colleague.

National Geographic then ran an interview with Samaras about his work, some of which had been funded by the society:

How did you get into it?

My background is in engineering. And I've always had a fascination with weather.

I watched The Wizard of Oz when I was a kid and vowed to myself, "I'm going to see that tornado one day." Tornadoes have pretty much become a focus of my life.

Rationally, that makes as much sense as deciding to breed monkeys with wings.