Rayleigh-Wave Theory and Application: Proceedings of an International Symposium Organised by The Rank Prize Funds at The Royal Institution, London, 15-17 July, 1985

There is no respect for mere age in Science or Technology. Yet the cen­ tenary of the discovery, by the third Lord Rayleigh, that elastic waves can be guided by a surface, is memorable for the contradictions which it encompasses: Rayleigh's assessment of his classic 1885 paper as a rather minor mathematical development with a potential value only in seismology on the one hand; on the other the rediscovery of the subject in a totally that of electronic signal processing - which has led to it...