An analogy used by a scientist:
"To give an intuitive understanding of the Doppler effect, assume we have a swimmer moving away from the shore, so that the waves seem to reach him more quickly. More precisely, their apparent frequency (apparent, since the frequency with which they break on the beach remains constant) increases. As he returns to the shore, he moves in a sense with the waves, so that their apparent frequency is reduced. If we assume that there is in the sea a fixed source of waves (the action of the wind against the current on the water surface), it is the speed of the swimmer in relation to this source that determines the change of frequency."
Hubert Krivine
Krivine, H. (2015). The Earth. From myths to knowledge [La Terre, des myths au savoir] (D. Fernbach, Trans.). Verso. (2011)
Read examples of science analogies
[Please be aware that a word may have different nuances, or even a different meaning, according to context.]« Back to Index
