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Adam Savage's Epiphany on the Science of Measurement!

Adam Savage’s Tested · 1.1M views · 2022-01-04 · 45:08

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Overview

Adam Savage shows a set of Mitutoyo ceramic gauge blocks and uses them to explain metrology, the science of measurement. He argues that accuracy and precision work differently than most people assume, which changes how you think about every measuring tool.

On Hacker News

Recommended as a thoughtful, enjoyable 45-minute dive into measurement and the appreciation of precision.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2022–2023

Topics

Mechanical & precision engineeringPhysics & space (other)Woodworking, metalworking & workshop skills
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gauge blocksmeasurementprecisionmachiningadam savage

What people said

waynesonfire · 2022-04 · Strong recommendation

Your post reminded me of one of my favorite Adam Savage videos where he touches upon this idea you're exploring. I encourage folks to see it, he articulates it so well. I linked to the start of the video where he begins to build the idea. TLDR is he mentions Monet painting Impression Sunrise and how it was something that people have never seen before and it took a bit of time for it to blow people away--they needed to develop "new eyes" to see the genius. Adam then dives into this idea of "new eyes". I'm sure many of us have experienced this in our life and it was so nice to hear Adam unpack it. [VIDEO]

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throw0101b · 2023-11 · Recommendation

Adam Savage has an interesting (45m!) video entitled "Epiphany on the Science of Measurement!" where he gets a bit philosophical on accuracy and precision (using gauge/Johansson blocks as jumping off point): * [VIDEO]

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gibolt · 2022-01 · Recommendation

I think you will thoroughly enjoy Adam Savage's (of Mythbusters fame) recent video on measurement. [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Adam Savage’s Tested, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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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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