Glossary: 40 Terms of Harmonic Tide Science
The working vocabulary of brass prediction: constituents, epochs, Doodson numbers, marigrams, and every jargon term decoded in plain English.
Guides
Long-form reference pillars and the working vocabulary of the field. Begin with the complete beginner’s guide, continue through harmonic analysis and the ninety-year history, and keep the 40-term glossary open in a second tab while you read anything else. A suggested first evening: the beginner’s guide tonight, the harmonic analysis explainer tomorrow with coffee, and the history pillar when you want the full sweep — each builds on the last, and the glossary decodes every term they introduce.
History of Mechanical Tide Predictors, 1872–1968
Ninety years of brass computers: from Kelvin's 1872 prototype through the American giants, Bidston rigour, German rivals, and the digital end.
How Harmonic Analysis Predicts Tides: From Kelvin to Doodson
The mathematics that made brass machines possible: constituents, least-squares analysis, and how Kelvin, Darwin, and Doodson turned chaos into prediction.
What Is a Tide-Predicting Machine? A Complete Beginner's Guide
A plain-English introduction to mechanical tide predictors: what they were, how gears added the moon and sun, and why ports trusted them for 90 years.
Other benches
History · How-It-Works · Machines · People · Practice