Technikatörténeti szemle 5. (1970)

KÖZLEMÉNYEK - Petrik Ottó: Modellek a műszaki múzeumokban

MODELS IN TECHNICAL MUSEUMS The speedy development of technics charges the technical museums with more and more difficult problems. The considerable dimensions and weights of the modern technical equipments, and not lastly their prices, limit the range in collecting original objekts to always more restricted areas. These circumstances lead at the same time the attention in ever increasing degree to the technical models. The domain of technical modelling — except for some special works, known only in certain limited quarters, dealing with some branches of experimental modelling — is not yet elaborated scientifically, especially not regarding the didactical considerations of the demands for technical education. So the first task of this study is to give on this new domain a certain systematizing survey. Within this sphere the study is occupied with possible and aimful classifications, tries to build up — outgoing from the general idea of models — a unified classification system for technical models, taking in particularly as basis the use of the models, i.e. their designation, purpose, direct taks. So we arrive to a system easy to manage in practice. The novelty of this domain involves that the usual and used technical terms — as e.g. model, maquette, trap, diorama, reconstruction, reproduction, imitation etc. — must be interpreted, too. The paper enumerates the usual interpretation of some of these terms, and addresses a certain criticism to them, but naturally a further detailed study of this problem is needed for the purpose of a satisfactory practical solution. This kind of solution prescribes the necessity of an international collaboration of experts speaking in different languages. The third part of the study is dealing expressly with the types, the systematization of the models in technical museums and the demands concerning them. Firstly the factors influencing the demonstrative qualities of the models are to be taken into consideration among which e.g. the choice of proportion has a decisive importance, which again has further influence upon certain model-mechanical, didactical and alike problems. The actuality and importance of the problems raised in this paper are verified by the fact, too, that on the proposal of the general assembly the Board of IATM sent out a special workteam to study the two main problems, the uniform terminology and the proportions of the models and to elaborate for both the concerning international proposals.