MOTnews 33 (03/05/2002)

Web, web and still more web

It's turning into a habit: once again, there's something new on our website.

In the "test your knowledge" section you will now also find an item called "ID-DOC-quiz".

ID-DOC is our online aid for the identification of hand-tools. With the quiz, you can now check how many hand-tools you can actually identify yourself.

New publication about historical technology.

The MOT has an extensive library, and we are always on the look-out for new publications in our research field.

Recently, we received Attelages et techniques de transport dans le monde gréco-romain by Georges Raepsaet. This is a particularly interesting contribution to research into the use of draught animals and beasts of burden and the study of transport in general in the Greco-Roman period. Transport by land was essential to the development of economic life, and much depended on the various possibilities that were thought up. Its thorough technical explanations will also make this book useful to specialists in later historical periods.

Georges Raepsaet, Attelages et techniques de transport dans le monde gréco-romain, Brussels, 2002

Available from

Le Livre Timperman, 51 Rue des Alexiens, 1000 Brussels

timperman@belgacom.net

Price, including p&p: In Belgium: 29 EUR Abroad: 38 EUR

TRUE OR FALSE

The basic ingredient for making glass is sand.

True or false? Find out in the next MOT News.

ANSWER to TRUE or FALSE in MOT NEWS 32 (05/04/2002)

A compass always points north.

FALSE

This is based on the fact that there are different types of north, although we use the same name "north" for all of them.

We know the "geographical north", this is the true north as it is always shown on globes, i.e. at the top. It is a fixed location, and was once determined by means of complex calculations.

But there is also a "magnetic north". This is the north your compass needle always points to. It is a spot somewhere in the north of Canada where the magnetic forces are so strong that it is always found by the compass needle.

Therefore a compass needle does'nt always point "north" but to "magnetic north". To top things off, this "magnetic north" is not always in the same place.

Because the magnetic force-fields are constantly in motion, magnetic north is always shifting a bit. This is why your compass is always pointing in a different direction (this difference is not apparent to the naked eye, because the change is often less than 1 degree per year)

The difference between geographical north (at the top of the globe) and magnetic north (which is what the compass points to) is called "declination".

SAY WHAT?

In this MOT-news item we try to explain proverbs and sayings that have their roots in our technical history. Similar proverbs are found in different languages, but each language has it's own typical sayings. Therefore we do not translate this item in English.

KIDS-news: something to tell the children this evening

You may be a gourmet, or you may be uncouth in food matters, but did you know that some very expensive delicacies are in fact rotten?

The culinary term for this is "high".

It is often used in connection with poultry, such as pheasant or partridge. When fresh, this kind of meat is hard and rather tasteless, which is why it is "hung" (and allowed to lose its freshness) before it is cooked.

Today, for hygienic reasons, this way of preparing food tends to be increasingly avoided, but not so long ago it was considered a true delicacy.