A method for analyzing gas concentration using doubly resonant photoacoustic spectroscopy, and a doubly resonant photaoacoustic gas detector comprising: i) a continuous wave light beam whose wavelength coincides with an absorption wavelength of a gaseous analyte; ii) a closed path optical cavity having at least two reflective surfaces; iii) an acoustic resonator chamber contained within said optical cavity, and comprising an acoustic sensor for detecting sound waves generated by a gaseous analyte present within said chamber, the light beam passing sequentially into, through and out of said chamber, and being repeatedly reflected back and forth through said chamber, and being modulated at a frequency which is equal to or equal to one-half of an acoustic resonance frequency of said acoustic resonator chamber.