The solitary wave, so-called because it often occurs as this single entity and is localised was first observed by J. Scott Russell on the Edinburgh-Glasgow canal in 1834; he called it the'great wave of translation. Russell reported his observations to the British Association in his 1844 Report on Waves'in the following words: I believe i shall best introduce the phenomenon 我相信最好是描述一下我本 by describing the circumstances of my own first 人和它的首次邂逅来介绍 acquaintance writh it. I was observing the mo 这个现象.那时我正在观看 tion of a boat which was rapidly drawn along a 条用两匹马拉着的船沿狭 窄的河道快速前进,当这条 boat suddenly stopped not so the mass of wa 船突然停下来的时候,河道 ter in the channel which it had put in motion; 中曾为船只推动的水体并不 it accumulated round the prow of the vessel in a 停下来,而是聚集在船头周 围猛烈地翻滚着.忽然一个 it behind, rolled forward urith great velocity,as- 孤立的巨大隆起离船而去 suming the form of a large solitary elevation,a滚滚向前疾驶,这是滚圆而 rounded, smooth and well-defined heap of water, 光滑的一团水,持续地沿河 which continued its course along the channel ap- 道行进,看不出明显的形状 parently without change of form or diminution 变化或速度降低.我在马背 of speed. I followed it in horseback, and overtook 上追赶着它,它依旧以每小 it still rolling on at a rate of some eight or nine 时8-9英里的速度滚动,保 re some 持着大约30英尺长、1-1.5英 thirty feet long and a foot and a half in height 尺高的原始形状.后来,它 Its height gradually diminished, and after a chase 的高度逐渐降低,在我追逐 of one or two miles I lost it in the windings of 了1-2英里以后,消失在弯曲 the channel 的河道中The solitary wave, so-called because it often occurs as this single entity and is localised, was first observed by J. Scott Russell on the Edinburgh-Glasgow canal in 1834; he called it the ’great wave of translation’. Russell reported his observations to the British Association in his 1844 ’Report on Waves’ in the following words: I believe I shall best introduce the phenomenon by describing the circumstances of my own first acquaintance with it. I was observing the mo￾tion of a boat which was rapidly drawn along a narrow channel by a pair of horses, when the boat suddenly stopped – not so the mass of wa￾ter in the channel which it had put in motion; it accumulated round the prow of the vessel in a state of violent agitation, then suddenly leaving it behind, rolled forward with great velocity, as￾suming the form of a large solitary elevation, a rounded, smooth and well-defined heap of water, which continued its course along the channel ap￾parently without change of form or diminution of speed. I followed it in horseback, and overtook it still rolling on at a rate of some eight or nine miles an hour, preserving its original figure some thirty feet long and a foot and a half in height. Its height gradually diminished, and after a chase of one or two miles I lost it in the windings of the channel. 我相信最好是描述一下我本 人 和 它 的 首 次 邂 逅 来 介 绍 这个现象．那时我正在观看 一条用两匹马拉着的船沿狭 窄的河道快速前进，当这条 船突然停下来的时候，河道 中曾为船只推动的水体并不 停下来，而是聚集在船头周 围猛烈地翻滚着．忽然一个 孤立的巨大隆起离船而去， 滚滚向前疾驶．这是滚圆而 光滑的一团水，持续地沿河 道行进，看不出明显的形状 变化或速度降低．我在马背 上追赶着它，它依旧以每小 时8–9英 里 的 速 度 滚 动 ， 保 持着大约30英尺长、1–1.5英 尺高的原始形状．后来，它 的高度逐渐降低，在我追逐 了1–2英里以后，消失在弯曲 的河道中．