Intangible Waves

The easiest waves to think about are the ones we can see and feel. Water waves are the best example. If you sit on a beach where swells are rolling in, you can feel their force and rhythm. Prehistoric humans no doubt spent hours staring at the waves on lakes and oceans, wondering where they came from, why they were sometimes big and sometimes small, why they were sometimes smooth and other times choppy, why they sometimes came from the west and other times came from the north, and why they sometimes moved with the wind and other times moved against the wind. Imagine a child, 100,000 years ago, dropping a pebble into a pond or watching a fish jump and noticing that the ripples emanating from the disturbance were just like ocean swells, except smaller. This must have been a revelation, but it was nothing compared to the discoveries scientists would later make with the help of instruments, mathematics, and a fascination with the intangible.