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AT&T Archives: Similiarities of Wave Behavior (Bonus Edition)

AT&T Tech Channel · 473.8K views · 2012-04-03 · 28:03

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Overview

A Bell Labs film in which Dr. J.N. Shive uses a mechanical wave machine to demonstrate reflection, standing waves, resonance and impedance matching. He includes some equations but relies mostly on real-world examples a layperson can follow.

On Hacker News

HN repeatedly calls it the clearest introduction to waves and transmission-line behavior, better than modern explainers.

Recommended by 12 HN people across 15 months · HN mentions 2014–2026

Topics

Electronics & circuit designEveryday physics & science demosHistory of computing
Search by tags
wave machinestanding wavesimpedance matchingbell labssignal reflection

What people said

Joel_Mckay · 2025-03 · Strong recommendation

It is not "hard" after some practice, but you need to be willing to learn. In general, DFM is a specialized area most EE have zero training in unless they chose to study it as an option. John Shive's Wave Machines is where every student should start: [VIDEO] Remember to have fun =3

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Joel_Mckay · 2025-01 · Strong recommendation

Get a ham radio technician license, and you may develop an intuitive perspective on most electrical engineering concepts. i.e. the physics lab derivation of the core EE tool set is unnecessary if you understand what the models are describing. AI is slop in and slop out... and dangerous to students... =3 John Shive's Wave Machines is where every student should start: [VIDEO]

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fsociety · 2023-11 · Strong recommendation

Thinking of an electron as a thing that travels from the start of the circuit to the end results in a bad mental model. Think of it as a wave, and then watch this video [VIDEO] . Then you will have a strong mental model.

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Sources

Video by AT&T Tech Channel, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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