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(1/4) Intro/History: Introducing a 100-year-old mechanical computer

engineerguy · 475.6K views · 2014-11-11 · 3:39

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Overview

The first of four short videos from Bill Hammack (engineerguy) introducing and giving the history of a 100-year-old mechanical computer, Michelson's harmonic analyzer. The series goes on to explain Fourier synthesis, analysis and operation of the machine.

On Hacker News

Commenters recommend the series whenever Fourier analysis or analog computing comes up, praising Hammack's clear explanations and the short episodes.

Recommended by 6 HN people across 6 months · HN mentions 2015–2023

Topics

Mechanical & precision engineeringInformation theory & signal processingHistory of computing
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fourier seriesharmonic analyzeranalog computerbill hammackmichelson

What people said

amatic · 2021-12 · Strong recommendation

There is a series of four fantastic videos about a successor to Thompson's tidal analyzer - the Michaelson's Harmonic Analyzer; here is the first video: [VIDEO]

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JshWright · 2018-02 · Strong recommendation

If you haven't watched all of Bill's videos, you should put them on your list right right now. His early stuff was a great mixture of goofy humor and fascinating explanations of the engineering behind various everyday objects. His more recent stuff has (unfortunately, in my opinion) dropped most of the comedy, but really stepped up the overall quality. Some highlights: His series on Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle lectures: [LINK] His series on Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer (a century old device that can mechanically perform Fourier transforms) [VIDEO] I'd also really recommend his book on R101, the last great British airship. [LINK]

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dghughes · 2023-01 · Recommendation

Many here probably have seen The Engineer Guy's series of videos showing a Fourier Analysis machine. If not here it is it's a great watch. [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by engineerguy, played through YouTube.

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HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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