How and Why Machines Work
MIT's introductory mechanical engineering subject looks at machines from three angles: how they are conceived, how they are drawn and developed, and how they are actually used. Students take real mechanisms apart, by hand and mentally, then sketch and model what they find using both freehand drawing and 3D CAD. Field trips supplement the lab work, and the course builds toward an individual term project that carries a concept through creation and final presentation. Throughout, the emphasis stays on the physics behind each mechanism alongside its historical development, so a gear train or a linkage gets explained both as an engineering solution and as an artifact of its era. Course materials from MIT OpenCourseWare include assignments, project guidelines, and design exercises, released under a Creative Commons license and free to use with no certificate attached.