u/redditthinksin r/compsci • Recommends
Richard Feynman describes the operation of a computer
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Richard Feynman Computer Science Lecture - Hardware, Software and Heuristics
Muon Ray
54K subscribers • 1 video on Hallway
- Recommended by 12 people: 8 on Hacker News, 1 on Lobsters and 3 in engineering communities.
- A classic. People kept recommending it from 2012 to 2026.
- Presented by Richard Feynman, physicist
Beginner. No background in the topic needed.
978K views14 years ago12 recommendations
Computer scienceHistory and cultureCPUs and computer architectureAlgorithmsHistory of computing
Richard Feynman explains the fundamentals of how computers process data, using the analogy of a filing clerk to demystify hardware and heuristics.
Donate and Support this Channel: paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BLJ283JMTM… Introduction Article to Heuristics and Metaheuristics: muonray.blogspot.ie/2016/04/meta-heuristics-and-universal-po… Richard Feynman, Winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics, gives us an insightful lecture about computer heuristics: how computers work, how they file information, how they handle data, how they use their information in allocated processing in a finite amount of time to solve problems and how they actually compute values of interest to human beings. These topics are essential in the study of what processes reduce the amount of work done in solving a particular problem in computers, giving them speeds of solving problems that can outmatch humans in certain fields but which have not yet reached the complexity of human driven intelligence. The question if human thought is a series of fixed processes that could be, in principle, imitated by a computer is a major theme of this lecture and, in Feynman's trademark style of teaching, gives us clear and yet very powerful answers for this field which has gone on to consume so much of our lives today. No doubt this lecture will be of crucial interest to anyone who has ever wondered about the process of human or machine thinking and if a synthesis between the two can be made without violating logic.Why it's here
12 people recommend thisWhat people say. Recommended as a classic, highly accessible explanation of computer fundamentals and heuristics using simple analogies.
Moments people linked to
u/SnazzyAzzyin r/compsci • Recommends
Physicist Richard Feynman on Computer Heuristics
trymason Hacker News • Recommends
On “Richard Feynman on the Challenger disaster (1986) [video]”
I am always amazed how Richard Feynman can make such simple stories and comparisons to explain the situation/theory in "explain like I'm 5" style. It seems that in every lecture or interview he gives he can explain the situation very fluently and in a way that literally, probably, a 5 year old could understand. The best one I saw is where R. Feynman explains how a computer works 1. Even though I knew everything he told, I was astonished how intriguing and simple his way of presenting was. 1 link to this video
cup-of-teaon Hacker News • Recommends
On “Ask HN: What is your favourite tech talk?”
Most recently I really liked "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Dynamic Typing for Practical Programs": link The ones that had the most profound effect for me would be Linus's talk about git and Carsten Dominik on org-mode. Also, Richard Feynman explaining how computers work: link to this video This actually changed the way I think about it after years of programming.
evanbon Hacker News • Recommends
On “What Problems to Solve”
You might be interested in this lecture that Feynman gave at a meeting called "Idiosyncratic Thinking": link to this video
e12eon Hacker News • Recommends
On “The Controlled Natural Language of Randall Munroe's Thing Explainer [pdf]”
This seems like a good companion (probably as a sequel) to: "Richard Feynman - Computer Heuristics Lecture": link to this video In general, Feynman might be a poster child for using simple language to explain complex things.
westurneron Hacker News • Recommends
On “Ask HN: How to introduce someone to programming concepts during 12-hour drive?”
I believe it was Feynman who introduced the analogy: desktop : filing cabinet :: RAM : hard drive Here's a video: "Richard Feynman Computer Heuristics Lecture" (1985) link to this video Somewhere in my comments here, I talk about topologically sorting CS concepts; in what little time I spent, I think I suggested "Constructor Theory" (Deutsch 201?) as a first physical principle. link
jamcohenon Hacker News • Recommends
On “Computer Science from the Bottom Up”
Richard Feynman's lecture is a great resource for this: link to this video He proposes a file clerk that gets progressively dumber and faster until they get so dumb that they can be simulated by an electronic circuit.
o4con Hacker News • Recommends
On “Good developers learn to program. Most courses teach a language”
…rocessing systems. And processing requires algorithms (i.e., instructions or procedures). Programming is simply writing instructions for the computer to perform computations. A computer is just a machine for computing. Computation is a general idea: a transformation of one form of information into another. Richard Feynman Computer Science Lecture: link to this video Old documentry on programming: link George Hotz video: what is programming? link link link…
pillarson Hacker News • Recommends
On “Good developers learn to program. Most courses teach a language”
…ng systems. And processing requires algorithms (i.e., instructions or procedures). Programming is simply writing instructions for the computer to perform computations. A computer is just a machine for computing. Computation is a general idea: a transformation of one form of information into another. link Richard Feynman Computer Science Lecture: link to this video Old documentry on programming: link George Hotz video: what is programming? link link link link…
micvbangon Lobsters • Recommends
Introduction to computers by Richard Feynman (1985)
u/Slukajin r/compsci • Mentions
On “CS version of Neil Degrasse Tyson”
Richard Feynman.
link to this video
Admittedly, he was a theoretical physicist, but a lot of his work involved quantum computing, and he was a computer in the Manhattan Project.
> There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them!
> -Richard Feynman
u/borbusin r/compsci • Mentions
On “Is there an equivalent to Feynman's Lectures on Physics for Computer Science?”
Well, I would say Knuth's *The Art of Computer Programming*, but it might assume a higher level of knowledge than Feynman's lectures.
On a related note, you might enjoy this lecture about how computers work by Feynman himself: link to this video
u/kernalphagein r/compsci • Mentions
On “What's the strangest, yet still accurate way you can describe a computer?”
I like Feynman's explanation of a computer's "thinky part".
tldr; Data is on index cards, the CPU is a secretary moving them around. The faster a desk clerk is, the dumber he is, and the smarter we have to be to use him. Repeat until moving at speed of light.
u/kernalphagein r/compsci • Mentions
On “I'm watching Cosmos on Netflix right now, and am thinking, damn it would be awesome if there was something like this for Comp Sci to share with my non Comp Sci friends”
Feynman to the rescue! link to this video