MOTnews 36 (26/07/2002)

FLAGS AT THE MOT

The MOT is blazing into summer with all flags ahoy. We are increasing the visibility of the Museum all the time. From this month onwards, three fluttering MOT banners featuring the new logo and flying at each department (Guldendal, Liermolen and Tommenmolen) will announce to visitors from afar that they are in the Museum for Old Techniques.

TRUE or FALSE

The uniformisation of the hour, or to put it another way, the fact that we all use the exact same time (within the same time zone anyway) is thanks to the introduction of the railways.

True or false? You can read the answer in the next edition of MOT News.

ANSWER to TRUE or FALSE in MOT News 35 (28/06/2002)

The substance asbestos was already known in Roman times.

TRUE

We all think of asbestos as being a fire-resistant material that although once used widely in the construction industry, is now known to be a highly dangerous product. However, asbestos is by no means a "modern" product since we find references to asbestos fibres as far back as Roman times through the writer Plinius, among others. He writes of an "unburnable" substance used to make the cremation robes for deceased kings and dignitaries. In this way when their mortal remains were cremated, the ashes from the (noble) royal body would be separated from the (ordinary) ashes on the funeral pyre.

He also mentions how precious this substance is, "pricier than the finest pearls".

Arabian troops are also believed to have dressed their soldiers in asbestos, so that after fire-bombing a fortress or city, they were better able to besiege it.

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 kids this evening

Have you got a sweet tooth? Can you simply not resist candy and cake? Then count your lucky stars that you are living in the present day, because sugar hasn't been on our menu for all that long.

In the Middle Ages, there was no sugar available for children to sweeten their food.

On the other hand, you could use honey to sweeten your food, because bees (the makers of honey) have after all been around for thousands of years and people were quick to discover how to get their hands on the delicious honey.

The first real "sugar" used was cane sugar, which was brought back by the crusaders and introduced via Italy into the rest of Europe from the 13th century onwards. Naturally, cane sugar was only for the rich.

The sugar that you know best in the form of white cubes (from a famous Belgian brand) comes from sugar beets. But it wasn't until the 18th century that people found out how to make sugar from sugar beets, and it is only since the middle of the 19th century that the substance has been in abundant supply.