Museum of Ancient Inventions

Citation

Campbell, N. (2001), "Museum of Ancient Inventions", Online Information Review, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 131-141. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2001.25.2.131.10

Maintained by the Program in the History of the Sciences at Smith College, the Museum of Ancient Inventions is a collection of inventions from various times in history. The Museum is linked to a course taught at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, for which students choose an invention, research it, and then build a replica using old techniques. Currently, there are 46 inventions in the collection, most dating from ancient times, although there are a few from the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

A colour photograph is provided for each item in the exhibit, along with a brief historical description of the invention and how it was used, plus a summary of the methods used for building a replica. The descriptions vary greatly from item to item. A few, like the description for stained glass, provide a good summary of the background. Most, however, provide only a short paragraph of text. The reason for this may be in part because a museum normally provides only a small amount of information. There is also variable detail in the Methods and Sources section for each item, although this section usually has more information than the historical description. The lack of consistency in the quality and depth of information provided is a concern with this resource.

As a whole, the Web site is very easy to use and has a simple, appealing design and layout. There are two ways to view the exhibit. One is to take the tour, which moves through item by item in order. The other is to use the directory to go directly to an individual invention. The exhibit is arranged chronologically, beginning with the earliest invention, the distaff from deep antiquity, and moving to the most recent, an earthen oven from 1700 CE.

In general, the Museum’s arrangement makes sense, especially since it is very easy to scan through the 46 items. However, other organisational schemes would aid in finding objects, especially as the exhibit grows. For instance, a title or name index would increase the ability to locate items if someone had only a name of an invention. An index by geographical area or by type of invention, such as pottery items or mechanical items, would also be helpful.

Overall, the Museum of Ancient Inventions is a very interesting Web site. It can be a helpful resource for anyone interested in how certain inventions were made or what something looks like. This is not a great resource for people needing detailed information about particular inventions, particularly given the inconsistency of information provided. However, it may be a place to start. I would recommend this site as an interesting one to browse, as you would a physical museum.