Blog 4

After having the entire afternoon free to explore the Deutsches in Munich I decided my favorite part was the exhibit on machine tools. I find automation fascinating so it is always cool when I can see an automated system in action like today at the museum or at the BMW factory. After out guided tour I went back to the machine tools section and saw that the system had been turned on by one of the museum employees so I not only got to see the various machines running, but I also got to take one of the magnets they made as a souvenir. Near the automated system was all of the older machines and systems that were used throughout the years to produce different products. It was interesting to see how each of the machines began and how they evolved with the times into what we have now.

Deutsches Museum-The Pharmacy Exhibit

Hello Friends!
I really enjoyed the Pharmacy Exhibit.  It starts off with showing various types of plants and their medical properties.  For example, it explained the properties and need to know info about the Cardamom plant.  It explained what type of plant it was, its origins, cultivation, what part can be used, major components its used for, size of dosage, the effects of the plant, and a random cool fact about the plant.  This one in particular besides being used for improving digestion is used in seasoning soups, sauces, meat dishes, coffee, etc.  Another part that was pretty cool in this exhibit was that it showed the inside of a living cell.  You walked into this blob (the cell) and it showed the various parts of a cell (mitochondria, nucleus, etc.) on the walls of the exhibit/cell.  This exhibit definitely topped the others I saw in the museum.

Cheers!

Deutsches Museum - Musical Instrument Exhibit

Dear blog,

Today we went to the Deutsches museum in Munich. We took a tour of some of the industrial revolution artifacts that they had, and then we were allowed to have a few hours of free time. During that time my favorite exhibit was the music room, which was full of old musical instruments along with some more modern ones as well. When you walk in you were greeted by a piano that was playing music by itself and there were many unique pieces as well. We found a Theremin that you were able to experiment and play with which I had never had the opportunity to do. We also saw a piano that was using violins to make music by having the keys on the piano correlate to the strings on the violin. This was my favorite exhibit because I play a musical instrument, and it was very interesting to see some of the old instruments as well as some very unique and one of a kind instruments.

Jake Wetsch

Blog #3 BMW

On Tuesday, we got to see BMW up close and personal. We saw BMW Welt, their museum, and their factory. BMW has helped shape the transportation industry that we know today. They created well known and high performing airplane engines. They also later made motorcycles and cars. BMW set a standard of what transportation should be, and had a vision for this new industry. Today, everyone drives cars, and needs to  get around in the world that we live in. BMW has helped greatly in improving this.

Augsburg Textile Museum

Visiting the State Textile and Industry Museum in Augsburg was an incredible experience. I especially enjoyed seeing the exhibit displaying the history of women's clothing for the past 200 years. I was shocked by the grusomeness of the corset and how it irreparably damaged the bodies of women starting from their childhood. I really enjoyed how our guide pointed out the early links between women's clothing and their independence. The idea that a woman's corset and dress would render her unable to use the bathroom or sit properly without assistance was horrifying. When the patriarchy is so pervasive that even a woman's clothes are meant to literally disable her, you know there's a problem. Overall, seeing the progression of dresses was a very effective learning experience and provided a unique glimpse at the standing of women in those times.

Blog Post #3: BMW Museum

Of the last few places we have visited, I really enjoyed the BMW museum. By no stretch would I call myself a "car" person, so I was surprised how much I liked this site. I never knew that BMW started making plane engines. But I was also suprised that the government prohibited BMW from making aircraft engines after WWI and all engines after WWII. I never realized that governments could stop a company from producing product all together. I also found it fascinating that they decided to make pots after WWII. I never suspected BMW, a well known car company, would making kitchen supplies. Looking back, I suppose they were in a hard place and wanted to keep their employees and give them some sort of work and making pots was a viable option. In general, I thought it was interesting to see the overall evolution of the BMW-- from making aircraft engines to making futuristic cars with skin. My favorite part was seeing the "vision" cars. I think that the vision cars are an important part of the engineering process. It's important for engineering to express their creativity in an unrestricted fashion. Sometimes the engineering environment can put employees into a standard way of thinking and making a certain product. However, this can be a dangerous place. It's important to not stifle creativity and I believe BMW is encouraging thinking out of the box.

Blog post #3: Textile Museum

Travelers,

At the begining of our time in Munich, Germany, one site caught my eye. The textile museum personifies how technology was changing in order to industrialize European companies. So far on the trip, I feel that we have only observed technology that was meant for improving science. At this site, technology was simpily improved to make fabric more efficiently. From the simple drop spindle all the way up to the technology of 2009, the improvments were quite impressive. This is a perfect example of how technology improves at a fast pace when the demand for it is high. Although technology was improving, the machines were still dangereous for operators to handle. Many moving parts made it easy to loose fingers and hands. Dust and loud noise was also harmful. Even metal being incorperated into the machines made them suseptable to sparks, which would eventually lead to fire. It was interesting to me that working conditions in Europe at the time were very similar to conditions in the United States. Textile industries in North America also didnt have laws to protect workers from accidents, long term damage or even fire. For example, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory experienced a fire on March 25, 1911. Inadequate saftey features and many locked doors in the factory lead to 145 deaths. I can imagine that similar incidents occured in European history. These conditions in factories may be hard to accept, but for the first time in history where machines were being used on a large scale for production, these issues may not have been thought of. However, child labor should not be included as a harsh reality that can be forgiven. The soul motivation for putting childern to work was for money. Like Germany, the U.S also employed children. I never thought of this issue as a world problem during this time in history. Although I am sure in ancient times it occured everywhere. In conclusion, the museum allowed me to realize that Europe and the U.S had similar issues during the industrialization of humanity.

Sincerely,

A.W