Whispering-gallery wave Whispering-gallery wave Whispering-gallery waves, or whispering-gallery modes, are a type of wave that can travel around a concave surface. Originally discovered for sound waves in the whispering gallery of St Paul’s Cathedral, they can exist for light and for other waves, with important applications in nondestructive testing, lasing, cooling and sensing, as well as in astronomy. Whispering-gallery waves were first explained for the case of St Paul's Cathedral circa 1878 by Lord Rayleigh, who revised a previous misconception that whispers could be heard across the dome but not at any intermediate position. He explained the phenomenon of travelling whispers with
South London Gallery grounds of Portland House, whose freehold Rossiter had purchased. In 1893, the Prince of Wales officially opened a lecture hall and library funded by newspaper owner John Passmore Edwards. In 1896, the Gallery was relocated at the Vestry of Camberwell. In 1898, Royal Academy President, Sir Edward Poynter opened a Technical Institute, which again had been funded by Passmore Edwards (to commemorate Lord Leighton who had died) on the site of Portland House. It later became Camberwell College of Art, which was run by the London County Council from 1904, though the Gallery was still under the local authority. The