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    10 videos · 2 hr 50 min
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    Everything Is Circles

    Curated by HackerTube · 10 videos · 2 hr 50 min

    HN keeps recommending the same handful of Fourier explainers, and together they cover a lot of engineering. This list starts with the intuition, follows the algorithm and its Cold War history, then visits the places it quietly runs: images, audio, radio and optics. It ends with the result that links it to quantum physics.

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    1. 1
      3:50

      Ptolemy and Homer (Simpson)

      Santiago Ginnobili · 380K views · 18 years ago

      A three-minute hook: enough epicycles can trace Homer Simpson's face, which HN uses both to explain Fourier series and to warn about overfitting.

    2. 2
      19:42

      But what is the Fourier Transform? A visual introduction.

      3Blue1Brown · 13M views · 8 years ago

      HN's default first explanation, the one many commenters say finally made the transform make sense.

    3. 3
      3:39

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

      engineerguy · 476K views · 11 years ago

      Michelson's gear-driven harmonic analyzer computed Fourier series a century ago; the first of Bill Hammack's four short episodes.

    4. 4
      28:23

      The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT): Most Ingenious Algorithm Ever?

      Reducible · 2.3M views · 5 years ago

      Derives the FFT from polynomial multiplication; one commenter rewatches it every six months.

    5. 5
      26:33

      The Most Underrated Algorithm

      Veritasium · 11M views · 4 years ago

      The FFT's backstory in nuclear test detection and Cold War politics, the human side of the algorithm from the video before.

    6. 6
      15:12

      JPEG DCT, Discrete Cosine Transform (JPEG Pt2)- Computerphile

      Computerphile · 698K views · 11 years ago

      The first everyday use: the cosine transform inside every JPEG, explained clearly enough that several commenters say they finally understood the DCT.

    7. 7
      23:53

      D/A and A/D | Digital Show and Tell (Monty Montgomery @ xiph.org)

      FL Studio · 647K views · 13 years ago

      Sampling and the frequency domain on real bench gear, the gold-standard answer HN gives to audiophile stair-step myths.

    8. 8
      12:31

      The Superheterodyne Radio: No really, that's its name

      Technology Connections · 987K views · 7 years ago

      Radio's central trick, shifting signals between frequencies by mixing them, explained by Technology Connections in twelve minutes.

    9. 9
      18:31

      Fourier Optics used for Optical Pattern Recognition

      Huygens Optics · 103K views · 6 years ago

      A plain lens computes a Fourier transform at the speed of light, shown with a DLP projector doing pattern recognition.

    10. 10
      18:07

      The more general uncertainty principle, regarding Fourier transforms

      3Blue1Brown · 2.3M views · 8 years ago

      The closer: uncertainty is a property of waves, not of measurement, which ties everything above to quantum mechanics.