Observed arrival · 2026-09-19
Tide Engine Archive — How Gears Predicted the Sea
An independent archive of the mechanical machines that forecast tides before computers, with historical research and an interactive tide synthesizer.
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✦Pretty
●Pro
◎Niche
◉Human
⚑Risk
ƒJS
- For
- Readers of mechanical history and hands-on science
- Worth noticing
- The archive redraws tide-prediction mechanisms as hand-coded SVG diagrams and covers machines from 1872–1968.
Field notes
The archive divides its material into history, mechanisms, machines, people, practice, and guides, giving the subject the structure of a small reference collection. Its examples move from Doodson’s analysis and mechanical sources of error to a cardboard, string, and washer harmonic adder. Daniel says the diagrams are hand-coded SVG, while the linked tide synthesizer is not described in enough detail here to assess.
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Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.
○OpenPublic substance visible
✦PrettyNotable craft visible
●ProPolished or operationally mature
◎NicheUnusually specific use
◉HumanPersonal, local, civic, or handmade
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