Primal Space

Primal Space is an animation channel that tells stories from engineering, science and history. Each video is built around a single invention, project or mystery.

The videos usually run for around eight to ten minutes. Clean animated diagrams carry the explanation, so complex machines and structures are easy to follow. Topics range from city foundations and transport systems to spacecraft and cables under the ocean. Some videos stray into wider history, but engineering problems and how people solved them sit at the heart of most episodes.

Some highlights include:

This video tells the story of a monorail that used gyroscopes to stay upright on a single rail.

This one explains how Venice was built on soft, waterlogged ground and how its foundations have lasted for centuries.

This video looks at the camera on board the Voyager 1 spacecraft and what it would take to switch it back on today.

The channel has over 1.9 million subscribers.

Primal Space is a good way into civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering for anyone who enjoys a story. Each video shows engineers facing a real constraint, such as ground that will not hold weight or a spacecraft with limited power, and the ideas they used to get round it. That way of thinking is at the core of every engineering degree and apprenticeship. The animation style also makes it easy to share in a classroom or watch with family.