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

On an elementary conceptual level, this film reflects the multifaceted scientific hyperthinking that was typical of a Bell Labs approach. Host Dr. J.N. Shive's presence as a lecturer is excellent - it's understandable by a layperson even when he branches into equations, because he uses copious amounts of real-world examples to bolster the material.

Shive's role at Bell Labs was more than just a great lecturer: he worked on early transistor technology, inventing the phototransistor in 1950, and the machine he uses in the film is his invention, now called the Shive Wave Machine in college classrooms.

Dr. J.N. Shive of Bell Labs demonstrates and discusses the following aspects of wave behavior:

Reflection of waves from free and clamped ends
Superposition
Standing waves and resonance
Energy loss by impedance mismatching
Reduction of energy loss by quarter-wave and tapered-section transformers
Original audience: college students

Produced at Bell Labs

Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

[davidhakansson]

This video acts as an impedance matching network between this topic and my brain. Perfect!

[nvrumi]

This film is a real gem. I'm an engineer (and used to be a professor) and the clarity of explanation in this film is exceptional. It is the best explanation of SWR that I've come across to date. This man would have been a favorite teacher had I had the opportunity to sit under him.

[orsmplus]

This dude has a very slightly evident grin that appears when he knows he's explaining something enlightening. You can tell he loves what he's teaching.

[exploding-man]

You can tell from his expressions that this guy is having a blast talking about this.

[DougMayhew-dsug]

My dad worked at Bell Lsbs and I had a basement full of test gear and jars of vintage transistors to toy with as a kid, and consequently have always had electronics and radio close to my heart and am still learning the deeper aspects of those subjects.

Bell Labs was an amazing place, there were actually two, one in Murry Hill, NJ, where the transistor was invented, and one in Holmdel, NJ, where my father had worked and did quite a bit of transmission cable work and later fiber work.

There was a white water tower there at the campus in Holmdel with 3 support columns, which oooked suspiciously like an oversized transistor; the joke was someday someone would paint E, B, and C for emitter, base, and collector on the bottom of the tower to properly label the “leads” of the water tower.

That kind of research is where it’s at, we need to get back to that collaborative multidisciplinary approach with a big center and a big budget to push the technology frontiers hard again. For example, the west needs workable fusion power, and the fragmented approach is perhaps costing more in lost time, than it is saving in dollars.

[QRPadventures]

I have learned more about waveform in this 30 minute video than 7 years of being an amateur radio operator. Great explanation and video.

[JdBa]

What an utterly gifted teacher Dr. Shive was, and what a gift Bell Labs gave us by preserving his work on film.

[deweywsu]

Amazing. So clear and direct. I find the further I go back in history, recorded science lectures seem to just make way more sense than today's classes. I'm not sure why. Maybe they weren't trying to teach so much at once then, and they had a script, so the material was presented in a very logical order, but this is definitely easier to understand for me than a lot of more modern videos that seem to just "wing it".

[telecomtitan]

arguably one of the best tech channels on youtube, please don't ever stop sharing these timeless visions of technology past.

[ericstevens]

Information is sliding so pleasantly and efficiently into my brain! So much respect for this era of engineering.

[NMRF]

I have been getting into ham radio over the past three years and this video is one of the most helpful things I've found in my learning journey.

[scratchdog]

As an old-school extra-class amateur radio operator, I recommend this video as an aid to understanding feedline/antenna matching.

[dave_npu]

I wish I would have had someone like him when I was studying to get my Amateur Radio license, I might have accidentally learned something instead of just memorizing the correct answer.

[buckbrown]

This has to be one of the greatest lectures of any kind that there can be.

[samuellourenco]

This film is precious! The mechanical analogue equivalent is the perfect medium to explain concepts like impedance mismatch and standing waves. It is easy to see the mechanics by which a high SWR can destroy the output stage of a transmitter.

[TheSwartz]

We just don't have awesome professors like this anymore.
I could listen to this guy for hours.

[thegrassisbluer]

As I get into amateur radio, YouTube brings up these beautiful old educational shorts that demonstrate concepts so succinctly and accessibly. I'm so lucky to live in this age for the accumulation of information that's been possible with the internet.

[russkydeutsch]

This is so much more than clear, concise education: It's poetic. Absolutely amazing.

[maxmustermann-gnnz]

This is gold. I am amazed how the concept of impedance can be applied to so many things at once and how waves are all similar in their nature. I went from having no deep understanding of waves to seieng patterns between different physics areas in one video.

[crazyham]

I truly appreciate that you have this video available on Youtube.
It is probably the best demonstration of wave theory,
reflected waves,
impedance matching & SWR
that I have came across.
Please Never Delete this Video 🙏💜🙏