Shive and His Wave Generator
John M. Shive presents his wave generator invention in this classic Bell Labs documentary. The discussion revolves around the fundamental similarities of waves in every earthly medium. Concepts such as tuning, reflections, interference, resonance, phase, and standing waves are introduced in a visual manner with physical demonstrations.
If you want to know about the physics behind earthquakes, radar, RF transmissions, light, and sound this is the video to start with. This lecture covers the basics of wave behavior and suggests a unified approach to thinking about all forms of waves.
Watch: Similarities of Wave Behavior - 1959 :: 28m
Harvard’s Natural Sciences website has further information on the construction of the wave machine, and provides color photos as well.
Read: Harvard Natural Sciences - Shive Wave Machine
To experiment with the machine yourself, an online simulator is available by Davidson College: