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But what is the Fourier Transform? A visual introduction.

3Blue1Brown · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Information theory & signal processingRecreational & visual mathPure mathematics

What it is

3Blue1Brown's animated visual introduction to the Fourier Transform, showing how a signal breaks into frequency components.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN's default recommendation for understanding the Fourier transform intuitively; many say it was the explanation that made it click.

  • 16 people recommended it
  • 15 different months
  • 7 strong recommendations
  • first 2018, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “this was the first thing that ever really made sense to me”

    First Fourier explanation that made sense, with amazing visuals from a great teacher.

    justjonathan, 2020-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Discrete Cosine Transform in Video Compression – Explain Like I'm Five”

  2. “Dude really needs to subscribe to 3Blue1Brown”

    Channel everyone interested in this topic should follow.

    andybak, 2021-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Circular Harmonics”

  3. “Then I learned about the Fourier transform in this beautiful video”

    Explained how multiple frequencies coexist in one cable.

    faebi, 2021-11 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: Videos that changed your life or how you think”

  4. “I can also highly recommend 3Blue1Brown's treatment of the topic”

    Highly recommended treatment of the Fourier transform.

    SJSque, 2022-11 · Strong recommendation · in “Demystifying Fourier analysis”

  5. “This is what made it click for me, can recommend it”

    Made the Fourier transform click for the commenter.

    sjaak, 2023-01 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: Concepts that clicked only years after you first encountered them?”

  6. “His visualization of the Fourier Transform[1] actually enabled me to understand”

    Visualization revealed how the Fourier Transform works, not just what it does.

    TimSchumann, 2023-12 · Strong recommendation · in “3Blue1Brown Calculus Blog Series”

  7. “This video does a great job explaining what it is and how it works to the layman.”

    Explains clearly to laypeople how a waveform breaks into components.

    garbageman, 2025-10 · Strong recommendation · in “How the cochlea computes (2024)”

  8. “the previous episode[2] is a recommended prerequisite for background on how the Fourier Transform works”

    Prerequisite episode explaining how the Fourier Transform works.

    pdkl95, 2019-04 · Recommendation · in “Why have so many physicists shrugged off the paradoxes of quantum mechanics?”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: fourier transform, 3blue1brown, signal processing, visual math, frequencies

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