MOTnews 1 (28/03/2000)

• MOT = Museum of Old Techniques

A museum is there to safeguard the relics of the past.

The Museum of Old Techniques does so for the history of technology. We focus on nature driven techniques: the power of muscles, water and wind.

• Why do we preserve these techniques?
• The history of technology helps you to think about things, to put them in

perspective.

• The techniques of a society are inextricably bound up with the whole of its

culture.

• Evolution doesn't necessarily mean progress, what we consider to be

"primitive" solutions are often not that "primitive" at all.

• The past helps us to understand our present.
• The basic principles of past technical solutions are still relevant today.
• ! As a part of the French version of International Museums Day, Le Printemps

des Musées, the MOT will be represented in the French Museum of Rural Life and Forestry in Saint-Michel (France).

KIDS NEWS: something you can tell your children tonight

• Why are there holes in a sandwich?

Certainly not because a stingy baker is trying to sell you air instead of bread.

Typical for bread is the fact that it is leavened and it's the yeast that takes care of this typical trait.

The yeast and the sugars in the flour form a gas: in this way small air bubbles appear that make your bread swell. Because of this you find "holes" in your sandwich and your bread is a lot lighter.