I've always wondered how differential gearing worked, but never taken the time to go study it. This is an awesome video series. What's really striking though is the pedagogy. Take particular note of the lack of PowerPoint slides, interactive demonstrations, hands-on practice, group discussions, or any of the myriad of supposedly indispensable instructional enhancements on which modern educators waste time and money. Was the instructor actually teaching us using a non-dynamic, unilateral, throat modulated flow of information? GASP! A lecture! The lowest form of instructional technique, tantamount to torture!
Take note of how clear and concise the ideas form in your mind. Note how easy the concepts are to grasp. Note also how easily the concepts rest in your mind. Even days later, you will still be able to recall the basic operation of the mechanisms. Remember that this is from 1953. Note the technology used as instructional aids and then compare this to what's happening in our modern education system. People get up in arms about lots of stuff. The economy, health care, X's rights. Not education. There are little brush fires from time to time about education, but which lack the scope and intensity warranted by the problem. There should be a four alarm fire in every state, city, and home.
Every civilization collapses−name one before the current that hasn't. I don't believe history will say ours collapsed from war, poverty, health care, or a deficit or surfeit of X's rights. The economy might beat education to the punch, but I suspect that's because the two are related. We will fail because we bought Johnny a calculator instead of teaching him how to add. We will fail because we bought Susie an iPod instead of teaching her how to read. I think history will say we failed as a civilization because we failed to teach the next generation how to keep the lights on.