sci.physics.electromag

"Timo Nieminen"
>
> For a simple analogy, a water wave is a change in
> the height of the water surface,

No. Water particles do approximately circular motions (two components -
transverse and longitude).

>a deviation from the equilibrium height,
> that propagates along the surface. It makes no sense to say that the
> height of the water surface propagates,

The "approximately" meens that the circles move slowly in the direction of
wave propagation. Real water wave are rather longitudinal and propagate.
Water waves are transversal only in textbooks for children. Each waves in
reality have the two components.
S*