Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract This paper reviews various uses of variational methods in the theory of nonlinear dispersive waves, with details presented for water waves. The appropriate variational principle for water waves is discussed first, and used to derive the long-wave approximations of Boussinesq and Korteweg an important application of this, developed with some success, is towards resolving longstanding difficulties in understanding the breaking of water waves.
G. B. Whitham (Tue,) studied this question.