Engineerguy videos & audio

  1. 11/26/2014 ·  Video

    (4/4) Operation: The details of setting up the Harmonic Analyzer

    This series on Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer celebrates a nineteenth century mechanical computer that performed Fourier analysis by using gears, springs and levers to calculate with sines and cosines—an astonishing feat in an age before electronic computers. This video (the fourth of four) shows how to operate the machine. Check out the series companion book and learn how to get a free PDF of the entire book at http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier.

  2. 11/26/2014 ·  Video

    Bonus: Rocker arms: sinusoids in two different directions

    This series on Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer celebrates a nineteenth century mechanical computer that performed Fourier analysis by using gears, springs and levers to calculate with sines and cosines—an astonishing feat in an age before electronic computers. This bonus video shows the motion of every rocker arm -- that is, every sinusoid. The end of the video shows all the arms in motion together. Check out the series companion book and learn how to get a free PDF of the entire book at http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier.

  3. 11/26/2014 ·  Video

    Bonus: Watch the machine spin around over and over...

    This series on Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer celebrates a nineteenth century mechanical computer that performed Fourier analysis by using gears, springs and levers to calculate with sines and cosines—an astonishing feat in an age before electronic computers. This videos shows the machine rotating and rotating -- including a breathtaking spiral up the machine at the end of the video. Check out the series companion book and learn how to get a free PDF of the entire book at http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier.

  4. 11/26/2014 ·  Video

    Page-by-Page Guide to the Free PDF of the Book Albert Michelson's Harmonic Analyzer

    his series on Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer celebrates a nineteenth century mechanical computer that performed Fourier analysis by using gears, springs and levers to calculate with sines and cosines—an astonishing feat in an age before electronic computers. This video is a page-by-page commentary to the series companion book. Learn how to get a free PDF of the entire book at http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier.

  5. 11/26/2014 ·  Video

    (3/4) Analysis: Explaining Fourier analysis with a machine

    ► Learn more at: http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier ► Buy the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0983966176/ ► Buy the posters on Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/engineerguy ► Main videos in the series: (1/4) Introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAsM30MAHLg (2/4) Synthesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KmVDxkia_w (4/4) Operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfH-NbsmvD4 ► Bonus videos: Books and Posters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXgTwrblClQ Page-by-Page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMHw9GCAtE8 Spinning Machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPQwKRt4Y2k Rocker Arms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mBuyixt22U This series on Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer celebrates a nineteenth century mechanical computer that performed Fourier analysis by using gears, springs and levers to calculate with sines and cosines—an astonishing feat in an age before electronic computers. This video (the third of four) shows how to use the machine to do Fourier analysis. Check out the series companion book and learn how to get a free PDF of the entire book at http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier.

  6. 11/26/2014 ·  Video

    (2/4) Synthesis: A machine that uses gears, springs and levers to add sines and cosines

    This series on Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer celebrates a nineteenth century mechanical computer that performed Fourier analysis by using gears, springs and levers to calculate with sines and cosines—an astonishing feat in an age before electronic computers. This video (the second of four) shows how to use the machine to do Fourier synthesis. Check out the series companion book and learn how to get a free PDF of the entire book at http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier.

  7. 11/26/2014 ·  Video

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

    This introduction to the series Albert Michelson’s Harmonic Analyzer celebrates a nineteenth century mechanical computer that performed Fourier analysis by using gears, springs and levers to calculate with sines and cosines—an astonishing feat in an age before electronic computers. This video is the first of four -- plus several bonus videos. Check out the series companion book and learn how to get a free PDF of the entire book at http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier.

  8. 08/05/2014 ·  Video

    Kodak

    Bill tells the story of how George Eastman invented film. Its use in the Brownie camera revolutionized photography; that it changed the way American families think of themselves and recall their own histories.

  9. 07/28/2014 ·  Video

    How the Donner Party inspired food packaging

    Bill tells us about packaging, a sub-discipline of engineering that is essential to our society. This radio commentary was originally broadcast on November 30, 2004. Visit this link to view complete list of media attributions http://goo.gl/fmGESM.

  10. 07/25/2014 ·  Video

    Theremin: How science fiction got its sound

    Bill discusses the theremin, and how it lead to one the music industry's most fundamental assets, the electronic synthesizer. This was originally broadcast on December 26, 2000. Visit this link to view complete list of media attributions http://goo.gl/fmGESM.

  11. 07/25/2014 ·  Video

    Ferris Wheel: How the Eiffel Tower wasn't good enough

    Bill tells the story of the origins of an engineering marvel found at every amusement park, the Ferris Wheel. This radio piece was first broadcast February 15, 2005. Visit this link to view complete list of media attributions http://goo.gl/fmGESM.

  12. 07/08/2014 ·  Video

    Coffee makers: How baseball put them in our homes

    Bill describes how the household drip coffee maker evolved. This was originally broadcast on August 29, 2000. Visit this link to view complete list of media attributions: http://goo.gl/fmGESM. Watch the related EngineerGuy video on how a drip coffee maker works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j4Q_YBRJEI

  13. 06/27/2014 ·  Video

    Why the Dvorak keyboard didn’t take over the world

    Perhaps no technological failure is better known than that of the Dvorak keyboard. Since the early 1870s nearly every typewriter used a keyboard with a QWERTY layout, yet most studies show the Dvorak arrangement of keys to be faster. This videos probes the underlying reasons that this arrangement failed to make headway in the marketplace. This video tells the story of why the Dvorak keyboard failed. This is one of three videos in a series on marketplace failures of technological objects.

  14. 06/27/2014 ·  Video

    PicturePhone: How Bell Telephone lost a half billion, but nearly created the internet

    How Bell Telephone’s PicturePhone, introduced in 1964, flopped yet nearly catalyzed the internet. Technically, it was an amazing achievement: Bell used the existing twisted-pair copper wire of the telephone network -- not broadband lines like today -- to produce black and white video on a screen about five inches square. And, amazingly for the time, it used a CCD-based-camera. It was meant to be the most revolutionary communication medium of the century, driving subscribers to purchase broadband lines, but failed miserably as a consumer product costing Bell a half billion dollars. This is one of three videos in a series on marketplace failures of technological objects.

  15. 06/27/2014 ·  Video

    How Sony’s Betamax lost to JVC’s VHS Cassette Recorder

    In 1976 Sony introduced the Betamax video cassette recorder. It catalyzed the “on demand” of today by allowing users to record television shows, and the machine ignited the first “new media” intellectual property battles. In only a decade this revolutionary machine disappeared, beaten by JVS’s version of the cassette recorder. This video tells the story of why Betamax failed. This is one of three videos in a series on marketplace failures of technological objects.

  16. 06/25/2014 ·  Video

    Stories of Technological Failure: PicturePhone, Dvorak keyboard & Betamax

    Introduction to a short series of three videos that takes a "snackable" look at the failure of three famous engineered objects: The Bell System's PicturePhone, which lost the company a half billion dollars, but nearly created the internet; the Dvorak keyboard, which is faster than our current QWERTY arrangement, but failed to gain traction in the marketplace; and the technically superb Betamax video cassette recorder, which lost to an inferior VHS-format machine.

  17. 07/03/2012 ·  Video

    How a Lead-Acid Battery Works

    Bill details how a microwave oven heats food. He describes how the microwave vacuum tube, called a magnetron, generates radio frequencies that cause the water in food to rotate back and forth. He shows the standing wave inside the oven, and notes how you can measure the wavelength with melted cheese. He concludes by describing how a magnetron generates radio waves. You can learn more about the microwave oven from the EngineerGuy team's new book Eight Amazing Engineering Stories http://www.engineerguy.com/elements

  18. 06/19/2012 ·  Video

    What Keeps Nuclear Weapons from Proliferating

    Bill explains that the hardest step is making the proper type of uranium. Weapons and power plants require uranium that contains a greater amount of the isotope uranium-235 than found in natural uranium, which is mostly uranium-238. He outlines the key difficulty in separating the two isotope: They have nearly identical properties. He explains the two key methods for separation: Gas diffusion and centrifuges.

  19. 06/12/2012 ·  Video

    How an Atomic Clock Works

    Bill shows the world's smallest atomic clock and then describes how the first one made in the 1950s worked. He describes in detail the use of cesium vapor to create a feedback or control loop to control a quartz oscillator. He highlights the importance of atomic team by describing briefly how a GPS receiver uses four satellites to find its position. You can learn more about atomic clocks and the GPS system in the EngineerGuy team's new book Eight Amazing Engineering Stories http://www.engineerguy.com/elements

  20. 06/05/2012 ·  Video

    How a Laser Works

    Bill shows how the three key characteristics of laser light - single wavelength, narrow beam, and high intensity - are made. He explains the operation of a ruby laser - the first laser ever made - showing how electronic transitions create stimulated emission to give coherent light, and then how the ends of the ruby cavity create a narrow wavelength highly collimated beam. You can learn more about laser in the EngineerGuy team's new book Eight Amazing Engineering Stories

  21. 05/29/2012 ·  Video

    Anodizing Aluminium (or The Beauty of Corrosion)

    Bill describes how metals like aluminum and titanium are made resistant to corrosion by growing an oxide layer into the metals. These is the same process used on many Apple products. This video is based on a chapter in his book Eight Amazing Engineering Stories.

  22. 05/22/2012 ·  Video

    How a Smartphone Knows Up from Down

    Bill takes apart a smartphone and explains how its accelerometer works. He also shares the essential idea underlying the MEMS production of these devices

  23. 05/18/2012 ·  Video

    CCD: The Heart of a Digital Camera

    Bill takes apart a digital camera and explains how its captures images using a CCD (charge coupled device). He also shares how a single CCD is used with a color filter array to create colored images. This video is based on a chapter from the EngineerGuy team's latest book Eight Amazing Engineering Stories (Learn more at http://www.engineerguy.com/elements)

  24. 06/21/2011 ·  Video

    Fiber optic cables

    Bill uses a laser pointer and a bucket of glycol to show how fiber optic cables works, and how engineers use them to transmit signals across the ocean.

  25. 06/14/2011 ·  Video

    Cell phone design

    Bill uses a pile of cell phones to illustrate the seven design criteria that shape a mobile device. He outlines the seven basic constrain