TL;DR
Joshua Wise presented a talk titled "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Fourier Transform" at Teardown 2025 and published a set of supporting resources. The page links a recording, slides, code, historical references and implementation examples related to Fourier methods and OFDM.
What happened
Joshua Wise posted notes and resource links accompanying his Teardown 2025 talk, "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Fourier Transform." The page points readers to a recording of the presentation on his YouTube channel and provides a PDF of the slides for reference. Wise also shared the Jupyter notebook he used to generate many of the talk's plots and explicitly described it as code he does not claim to be polished. Practical implementation material accompanies the notes: a DVB-T decoder that he wrote, and an implementation of an algorithm from a referenced paper that jointly estimates carrier offset and time offset. Historical and explanatory context is provided through links to Eugene Wigner’s essay on mathematics in the natural sciences and to the OFDM patent (US3488445A, filed 1966, expired 1987). An explanatory video about the Fast Fourier Transform is also recommended. Contact details for Joshua Wise are listed for feedback.
Why it matters
- Collects practical resources (recording, slides, code) for reproducing talk examples and experiments.
- Links historical and technical sources — including the OFDM patent and Wigner’s essay — offering context for Fourier-based techniques.
- Includes implementation artifacts (notebook, DVB-T decoder, offset-estimation implementation) that practitioners can inspect or adapt.
- Points to educational material on the Fast Fourier Transform, aiding understanding of a core computational tool.
Key facts
- The notes accompany Joshua Wise’s Teardown 2025 talk titled "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Fourier Transform."
- A recording of the talk is available on Joshua Wise’s YouTube channel.
- A PDF of the talk slides is provided for reference.
- The Jupyter notebook used to generate the talk’s plots is published; the author notes it may not be polished code.
- The page references the OFDM patent US3488445A, filed in 1966 and listed as expired in 1987.
- A paper on jointly estimating carrier offset and time offset is linked; Wise says he implemented the algorithm by typing it in.
- A DVB-T decoder authored by Wise is shared as an example implementation.
- An explanatory video on the Fast Fourier Transform is recommended as a recurring resource the author watches.
What to watch next
- Recording of Joshua Wise’s Teardown 2025 talk on his YouTube channel (linked on the page).
- The recommended video that explains the Fast Fourier Transform (linked on the page).
- not confirmed in the source
Quick glossary
- Fourier transform: A mathematical operation that decomposes a function or signal into its constituent frequencies.
- FFT (Fast Fourier Transform): An algorithm that computes the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) efficiently.
- OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing): A digital transmission technique that splits a signal across multiple orthogonal carrier frequencies.
- DVB-T: A standard for broadcasting digital terrestrial television using COFDM (a form of OFDM).
Reader FAQ
Where can I watch the talk?
The page links a recording on Joshua Wise’s YouTube channel.
Are the slides and code available?
Yes — a PDF of the slides and the Jupyter notebook used to produce the plots are provided on the page.
Did the author provide any implementations?
Yes — Wise links a DVB-T decoder he wrote and reports implementing an algorithm for joint carrier and time offset estimation.
Is the OFDM patent cited?
Yes — the page references patent US3488445A, filed 1966 and noted as expired in 1987.
Can I contact Joshua Wise for feedback?
Contact details (personal and work email addresses and personal/work websites) are provided on the page.
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Fourier Transform Notes from Joshua Wise's talk at Teardown 2025. New: You can now watch a recording of my talk on my YouTube channel! Or…
Sources
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