A 1953 US Navy training film explaining the basic mechanisms in mechanical fire control computers aboard ships. It shows how gears, differentials and cams solved mathematical problems in permanent mechanical form.

Why Hacker News readers recommend it: HN commenters repeatedly recommend it as a beautiful, approachable explanation of analog mechanical computation, and many have rewatched it.

“It illustrates the problems and solutions near perfectly, and I've watched it way too many times.”

View the original HN discussion

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