“If you want to make something smarter, teach it to play,” remarks a trailblazing oceanographer in Richard Powers’ Playground. Evelyne Beaulieu is one of several brilliant characters in the novel who eagerly approach their work every day with the excitement of “a babe in Toyland.” During decades exploring the ocean floor and playing “hide-and-seek with octopuses and tag with pygmy seahorses,” the Montreal-born diver feels as if she’s been “set loose in the greatest playground any child had ever seen.” But she is also concerned by the changes she’s witnessed over the years – including reefs and species that have been decimated.