SREF Project day

SREF Project day

Today I had the luxury of exploring Munich with some classmates and go to some cool museums. The first museum that we went to was the toy museum that had a cool wind chimes toy outside on the ceiling of the entrance. As you went in you had to start on the 5th floor using the elevator and work your way down. At first the elevator scared me but then I felt like a new Barbie doll coming out of the box. While exploring the toy museum, I found it fascinating that some of the toys there I was able to see at my grandparents house. Some of the toys are also from tv shows from 1930s like Popeye, the Yellow kid, and Daffy Duck. It was fascinating to see that they were able to make toys back in the day and in many different varieties. My favorite part was seeing the start of the Barbies. Barbie came out in 1959 in New York. The downside of the Barbie is that it was influencing the way that women should look and weigh. It gave a very negative connotation that everyone should be blond, tall, and weigh the less as you could. 

Christina💜

SREF project day - Jesse

 On June 1st, we had a day to work on our SREF projects.   We were tasked with finding places around the city that would be interesting to someone else doing a study abroad program similar to ours about the history of science and technology.  

The first place that I went was the Stadtmuseum.  There were plaques talking about the armor, various weapons, and briefly about Count Rumford's theory of heat transfer.  

The suit of armor shown above is called Maximilian Armor and is believed to have come from the royal armory.  This tournament armor made around 1515 had a hook on its right side for resting the lance on.  The plaques describe the different details of the armor like the shoulder board with crimped edges around the neck and the specific style of footwear.   The other armor in the pictures were meant to be worn over chainmail by guards on the city watch.  The black armor shown below would have been worn by the troop leader in 1570.  

There were also sections about architecture.  One that I found was interesting was about how the Welsche Bonnet topped towers of the Frauenkirche in Munich were controversial for not using the typical Gothic Spires.  Shown below is a model of the Frauenkirche. 

After that, I went to the Beir Oktoberfest Museum.   Where I learned about the science behind the brewing process in Germany.   I was also interested in seeing Professor Carl Linde's Ice machine and his pattent for it from 1879 (shown below).

6.1.23: SREF Independent Exploration

 I went to the Stadtmuseum. I wouldn’t say it was as in depth pertaining to science and technology, but one could draw connections between a variety the history of science and technology and some of its exhibits. It featured a suit of armor and weaponry typical of the Middle Ages and connects back to our theme of war/defense spurring new technologies for those uses. The museum also nodded to the presence and importance of BMW and the automotive industry here in Munich and Bavaria, connecting back to our whole day dedicated to BMW. A brief panel discussed the hardships faced amongst some residents of Munich through technological growth and industrialization such as pollution, smells, and noises from rail yards and factories. Technological growth and developments do not guarantee an increase in living standards or well-being. Additionally mentioned was the impact of the 1972 Olympics and in preparation the necessity of expanding public infrastructure. Large, often global cultural events like the Olympics draws the eye to a city and country to show off their culture, heritage, infrastructure, and technology. There were a few panels discussing Munich’s music scene where artists experimented with electronic music since 1956. Finally, an exhibit discussed the Nazi regime and the atrocities they committed particularly pertaining to eugenics and inhumane science experiments conducted on prisoners, which we also learned about at Dachau Concentration Camp. It was great drawing connections between our previous sites and what this museum offered.

I also visited the Oktoberfest and Beer Museum. Exhibits discussed the science and chemistry behind making beer, which is a key component to Munich’s culture. The museum nodded to beer’s ancient history dating back to the 5th millennium BCE and Ancient Babylon and Egypt; a useful timeline was also included in the museum. Both museums were insightful in looking into the progression, importance, and interactions of science and technology in Munich and Germany.

SREF project

Grace Semaan: For my SREF project I went to a couple of museums, the Toy making museum and the Beer and October fest museum. I’d like to highlight the Toy museum because it was very cool to look around and experience. The museum itself seemed like it was within a tower of another building, because it was very small and the staircase was a spiral staircase that made me feel like I was in a castle. Once we got to the top of it, we stepped into the first room which had mostly teddy bears and toys made out of various metals. There was also toys made out of paper and some carved out of wood and painted with various substances. 

Tin toys

Teddy bear sign

The next level opened up with a large display of original Barbie dolls. There was some very interesting books the Barbie’s had that came with the toys. Some included things about losing weight or how to not eat which now makes me understand how we normalized eating disorders within society. This floor also had a collection of porcelain dolls and new figurines made from a combination of saw dust and caolin so they would last longer. 

New engineered toys

Porcelain doll example

The last floor had a collection of robot toys, trains, and model boats. Overall it was really cool to see how toys were made and how they progressed since the early 1800’s. I’d definitely recommend going and visiting if given the chance, especially since the admission is so cheap!

Model Trains

Model Boats

SREF - Lucas

 For the SREF project, William and I traveled to a wing of the Deutches museum which was focused on trains, cars, and bikes. This museum was broken into 3 separate buildings and contained a lot of information throughout. Starting with the entryway, there was graphics and plaques on the future if transportation. This included things such as new tech, how we can make positive transportation decisions, and some future city plans. The following part of this building was composed of mostly old motorcycles, bicycles, and old cars of various brands and times. 

The second building was predominantly train technology of old and new. There were full size and once functioning steam trains that you could walk through. Besides the examples most of the information contained here was on old steam technology.

The 3rd and my favorite building was a mixed basket. The building was split in half with one showcasing racing vehicles and the other containing interactive activities. There were old race motorcycles and 2 F1 cars which I was particularly fond of.  The interactive examples were clear physical models on how multiple complex components work inside of cars. This included steering systems, transmissions, and differentials. 

SREF research day

William Shaker: The only thing I was able to visit on the designated SREF day was the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum. The main focus of the museum was transportation. There were exhibits on the history of the bicycle, including exhibits of trends and technical developments related thereto:

(Evolution from older things like wooden rims and rod brakes to modern double wall aluminum rims with disc brakes is a major improvement, and it is neat to see ideas between)

There were too many car exhibits to talk about here, but they all showed a definite flow from the early self-propelled wagon sorts into more modern cars.

There was also a neat section on passenger rail, both more broadly and with specifics like how their third rail ended up being the way it is.

SREF Project Day

 For the SREF Project Day, I visited the Toy Museum and the Beer Museum, both in Munich. The toy museum was very cool to see, showing the history of craftsmanship with wooden and porcelain models that would later transform to plastic minifigures and small battery-powered machines. There was a whole case of sci-fi spacecraft and robots from the 1970s, which reminded me very much of the hand-me-down toys I received from my father as a young child. American influence was a lot more relevant to German toys than I would have expected, but it makes sense as a direct result of Disney’s early days in animation.

The beer museum was also quite fascinating. We learned that the art of brewing dates back as far as the times of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. The consumption of alcohol is an evidently universal social aspect across nearly all cultures, and it frankly hasn’t evolved as much as almost anything else we’ve seen on this trip. I was surprised to learn, however, just how important the invention of motor-driven cooling systems is to brewing itself. It seems relatively obvious that refrigeration is important for the enjoyment of an ice cold beer, but I really had no idea how much the heating and cooling of elements in the process of brewing could be!

SREF Project- Kaitlynn

 For my SREF project, I went to both the Munich toy museum and a beer-making museum. However, I will just be talking about the toy museum in this article. 

The museum was very charming upon arrival, as it is housed only in the tower pictured above. There were multiple floors with toys spanning from the 13th century up to the present day. I really enjoyed how each type of toy had a different description of why it was popular at that time, so you could really picture the technology present that would have made it possible to produce them. It was interesting to see when the industrial revolution would have taken place by looking at the toys because they quickly went from unique and hand-made to identical and mass-produced. Also, one can see a switch from a monotone color palate to a very bright and vibrant palate with the newer toys.

One of the first toy cases we looked at contained a variety of different carved wooden toys. These were by far the most interesting thing to me because you can tell how much detail was put into them and what skillset was needed to make them.

Then, we got to see a vast collection of different dolls. You can tell that by this point, these dolls were not being made in the home, but rather by a skilled craftsman or a small factory setup. However, you can see the primitive nature of the design and that most of the clothing was still hand-made.

Lastly, we saw toys that were closer to the present day, which included some Barbie dolls and electronic toys. At this point, one can see how uniform everything looks, especially with the Barbie dolls. Additionally, with the new technology that was invented, electronic toys were introduced to the market, allowing for a whole new perspective on what a toy could look like. Overall, it was very interesting seeing the development of toys and how different technological advancements could change the public interest in what toys were deemed "popular". 

SREF Project Free time

 So for the SREF project work I'd like to talk mainly about the beer and oktoberfest museum. The museum was delightful housed in what I believe to be an old brewery a short distance from the Marienplatz and Viktualen Markt. It is a tall building with the round about tour starting on the 4th floor, with history of brewing and its techniques. This includes wonderful artifacts like brewers stoneware, and an "Anciet beer tablet" as I have taken to referring to it pictured below.

        

The museum then transitions pretty smoothly into a cultural history of beer in Bavaria, and oktoberfest as a tradition and cultural phenomenon. This included displays of Bierdiekles, photos of people enjoying beers together, and other various paraphernalia of beer's cultural footprint. Altogether the museum is well worth the €4 admission, though I wish we had been more acutely aware that the beer tasting at the end wasn't complementary. For the Stadt Museum, the other site we visited, there was less for history of science and tech, though one could talk about or think of ways that science and tech had influenced things like the King's panorama or the marionettes and clock work and the armor and weapons. The clearest link to scientific history was in a special exhibit on National Socialism, which talked about their "Racial science" and demonstrated tools and ideas of that period.

SREF Project: Alex

Today for our SREF project, we went to two locations the Stadtmuseum and the Beer and Octoberfest museum.

At the stadtmuseum, there was a wide variety of topics that were featured, all relating to the city of Munich. The first one we entered seemed to be a museum for Munich's club scene, with many different exhibits showing posters for local bands, artifacts from famous clubs, and sets showing what old clubs were like in Munich. One artifact that I particularly enjoyed was an exhibit showing tickets for a show prior to the covid pandemic. There was a giant stack of papers, which really exemplified just how much life changed in 2020. 

In the museum, we were given English audio translations for some of the stations, as we were given a device which we could input codes to listen to prerecorded audio.  This was useful, as hardly any exhibits had written English captions. 

Another cool place in the museum was the Munich National Socialist section, which displayed numerous Nazi Germany artifacts such as books, flags, and uniforms. One exhibit that particularly struck me was various charts and guides for determining scientific 'races.' There was an eye color chart, a hair color chart, and a skin color chart

Next, we went to the Munich Oktoberfest and Beer museum, which was pretty neat. There was a comprehensive chart showing all of the steps required in order to make beer, and definitions for terms that I otherwise did not know beforehand. There was a big vat and examples of bags that people put grains into for the beer making process. Afterwards, we got to try the different beers as we learned the ingredients how to make them.

Overall, we had a good day!

SREF project~ Ashten

 Toy Museum- we started on the 5th floor. We saw a variety of dolls, trains, bears, Barbie’s, and robots. Seeing the hair of the dolls was extremely interesting as well as different varieties of Barbie’s. The Barbie section showed weights and scales for children to dress their Barbie. The variety of trains included brands I recognize today such as  shell.

Bier- und Oktoberfest Museum: we began by climbing a few flights of stairs and seeing a select variety of culture items we see often at home. My favorite part was the Oktoberfest room. The culture in terms of Oktoberfest is one you only see in Germany and seeing the different parades of people in lederhosen. I enjoyed seeing the crown and the different varieties of posters.

Ashten- Deutsches Museum

 The overall tour was fascinating. The museum itself was very magical and I felt drawn to all the items on display, especially that of the music section. The instruments in all their glory were a centerpiece in my mind. I thought it was incredible seeing the background information and learning about the different varieties of organs on display. You only get to see the organ in a church scene so it was very nice seeing the pieces all in a large room.

I found the science exhibit intriguing as I am not well versed in science but the exhibit was shown in a sense that I felt as if I did understand it.

Deutsches Museum

 The Deutches Museum in Munich has a grand variety of exhibits to explore. We learned about chemistry, microbiology, music history, and many other fascinating items significant to German culture.

My favorite exhibit from the guided portion of our tour was the section dedicated to transistors and laser technology. This past spring semester, I took a course titled “Design, Simulation, and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Systems,” or MEMS for short. Participating in that course alongside Modern Physics really opened my eyes to the multitude of captivating niches within engineering physics and provided an entry-level understanding of the exhibit our guide, Alex, spent about 20 minutes on. 

Alex went over the history and function of these devices in sufficient detail, then expanded our knowledge further regarding the economic and international complexities of developing these technologies. He mentioned that everything in science that appears to be exponential at first in terms of efficiency with respect to time usually is an illusion and actually follows the trend of an S-curve. That is, there is a limit to how far we can go. For example, it will not be possible to manufacture silicon transistors that take up less space than the atom’s lattice parameter.

Whether we work around this issue by reinventing the technology or remain stuck for several millennia, the progress we’ve seen with computing technology is a crucial aspect pertaining to the advancement of our civilization as a whole. I hope to see more sci-fi technologies come to fruition in my lifetime, and I wish to see this in a way that promotes life rather than destroys it. 

Deutches Museum

 Something that I found incredibly interesting right off the start of our tour was the original first ever Diesel engine. Diesel is a less refined version of gasoline and is used in many larger private/industrial machines. The way Otto Diesel happened to come up with the idea, then pursue it for 20 years and reach success is a great story. I also found it interesting when our tour guide told us about his disappearance and how it was likely the government taking him out. This is ironic as this exact case of a new revolutionary technology getting someone murdered over rights has happened in many cases. 

Alex: Deutsches Museum

Alex Miller

Our time at the Deuches Museum was incredibly interesting today. I see what you meant by one if the world's largest science museums, as I felt as if I could hardly take any time to let the information I was reading sink in as I went from exhibit to exhibit. 

Our guide for the day, Alex, was incredibly charismatic and knowledgeable about his subject area. It's amazing how far charisma alone goes for engagement. Our first stop, which I'm considering as the history of the museum, was incredibly engaging as he mentioned that the Deuches Museum doesn't really describe anything in its name, and how it may just be a holdover from the time when Germany had prospects of being a global empire. The information concerning the 100,000 bombs left sitting in the German ground was incredibly sobering and made me consider our own possibilities for war in my lifetime. Especially when he said they've found some around the museum. That Americans were sending bombs that were intended to explode after a couple days was very horrifying, and particularly sickening to me given that soldiers would be under a false aire of security. I get that they were Nazis, but war is horrifying nonetheless. 

Our guides information on the transistor was incredibly interesting to me as well. Given the prevalence and importance of semiconductors in our global economy, it strikes me as irresponsible that given me, three years in to college, I still do not fully understand what a semiconductor or transistor is, let alone how it works. This is saddening to me because of how important it is for U.S. current foreign relations, and how the fight with China over control of Taiwan hinges upon this. More than anything else, our guides tour taught me that my field is not a stand alone discipline. People often ask why they are required to take general education courses, and today I learned that I know virtually nothing about science and technology, despite how crucial it is to understand today's economy and political climate. How much of the real world am I missing by my lack of knowledge in fields other than my major? The same is true in the aspirin discussion, which flew completely over my head, but now I realize the necessity of understanding chemistry and science in order to create a fuller understanding for the world around me.

Lastly, the guides talk on concrete was incredibly fascinating to me, because he answered in such a simple way all of the questions that someone might ask about concrete? Why would someone use steel supports on a concrete structure? Concrete is brittle horizontally but strong vertically and steel is bendable vertically but strong horizontally. These two in tandem help to create a sounder structure that withstands force from all sides. What problems persist with the creation of cement? Sand needs to have sediment in it in order to have the grip it needs for cement, so it needs to be taken from beaches, not deserts. Additionally, cement construction requires a hefty amount of CO2 in order to produce, contributing a substantial amount to the global CO2 emissions total. Overall, I learned so much practical knowledge from our tour today.

I really enjoyed our tour and exploration of the Deuches Museum today! I hope I have more time to explore the coding exhibit, the agriculture room, and the photography section during our other free time for the aviation portion. 

5.29.23: Deutsches Museum

 I was happy to spend a fair deal of time in the bridges and dams portion of the museum. Growing up around the Upper Mississippi Valley, I hold a great appreciation for these incredible structures and the impressive science and engineering that make them safe, functional, and purposeful. I enjoyed when we went onto the large bridge in the exhibit as part of our tour and were able to bounce on it and in effect simulate what an earthquake would feel like as well. One theme I picked up on throughout my time in this exhibit is the progression and advancement in technologies and styles of bridges over time and as needed to fit the needs/purposes and challenges that spur innovation. One example is the Plait du Gard aqueduct near Nimes, France which utilizes an arch design with three different layers progressively narrowing up to reduce the weight load on the structure below.

Additionally the Rendsburg High Bridge utilized a truss design carrying trains high above a river and replaced two swing bridges, which allowed for more easy traffic flow both on the river and rail. An additional point of intrigue was a suspension ferry underneath the bridge that transports 350 vehicles and 1,700 pedestrians across the river each day. The ferry is still in open today and it has been designated as a historic landmark of civil engineering in Germany.

Finally, with the human ambition and drive to span larger gaps, canyons, or waterways, we have often turned to suspension or cable-stayed bridge designs like the Normandy Bridge spanning the mouth of the Seine. Sometimes I feel it is easy to drive across even the most basic bridges to the long, complex, and unique designs that catch our eye and take them for granted. There is a lot of science and decisions behind these structures that help us move people and goods with ease from one place to another. Designs and methods have evolved over time to meet our needs and rise above nature’s challenges. I’m happy the Deutsches Museum had this display as I found it very intriguing in bridging the gap between my own experiences with bridges along the Upper Mississippi and elsewhere and the incredible science, design, and engineering behind them.

-Michael

Deutsches Museum

During the tour we went to a very cool bridge that we were able to jump on to stimulate the feeling of being in a hurricane. I thought it was interesting to learn that the bridges that’s been built throughout time are slowly deteriorating and will soon be out of order if it’s not fixed. This will also cost a lot of money and can cause a huge debt or close down access to different areas in a state. Learning that all the bridges have been made so long ago makes sense that they are slowly decomposing but also with the advanced technology that we have now, I don’t understand why we can’t start slowly fixing them before they are completely out of order. Another exhibit that I enjoyed was the music wing. As I grew up I was always in band along with my sister and seeing the history of both of our instruments was really interesting and it made me a little sad that I don’t play as often anymore. Christina

Deutsches museum day 1: no airplane technology

 William Shaker
The tour, while somewhat stationary, was really nice, especially with the section on the oldest concrete structure, the doghouse. It seemed somewhat fitting that the oldest surviving reinforced concrete structure would be a doghouse, as it always seems that all (okay not all but every one I'd be willing to talk to) dog owner to some degree does spoil their dog. Even the most free roaming for farm dog that's half decently cared for does at least get a healthy
amount of pets and trailer rides. Someone going "oh man I can make my little dude have his own house and address" seems like both something very much of the time and like something distant, but also very close as it's something most people on this trip would go and do.

On a different note, I found one particular display out of all those I sprinted past particularly interesting. The diorama of the brewery was fantastic.

It included descriptions of all the steps involved, had neat architectural details, figurines showing how staff and customers would be working, as well as provided a visual aid of how they would have done it then. Sure, today you might have a well controlled process that results in consistent and "good" beer, but back then it was more of a "hey this works so let's keep doing it this way" kind of thing. Bottom fermentating beer yeasts, for example, required temperatures typically only obtainable in winter. So until refrigeration was invented by Carl von Linde, (with financial help of a brewing family?) It was not possible to use such yeasts except as a seasonal thing.

Another thing I found very interesting was, and I am fairly sure it did slightly dip into the aviation stuff we weren't supposed to go see but I couldn't stop myself, the model airplanes. Apparently there is a large section of the different innovations in RC technology and a bunch of different power setups showing progression from non-throttle nitro engines that spat oil and fuel everywhere, to the beginnings of brushed electric, all the way to a modern brushless electric pylon racer.