HIST 100: Engineering The Past

2.1 Prownian Analysis

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Hey y’all! I decided to choose the comb from amongst the other items in my bathroom. Here is my Prownian analysis.

Description: The object is of a red color. There are fine teeth-like parts on the object. These “teeth” are evenly spaced and pointy at the ends. It is about 6 or 7 inches in length and is made out of some sort of plastic.

Deduction: It looks like the object is used by an individual, but many individuals may use it. The object can be used by men, women, or children. The object is located in the bathroom primarily. The object’s purpose is to fix or arrange messy hair into a more neatly manner. The person who uses this object cares about their appearance, which makes sense because the object can enhance the appearance.

Speculation: Anybody who uses this object probably cares about their appearance and what their hair looks like. The producer of this product chose to use plastic, does this mean that the producer doesn’t care about their impact on the environment? Does the consumer of this product make a good decision to buy a plastic, rather than a wooden, ceramic, etc. , version of this object? Is it cheaper or easier to mass produce this object with plastic, rather than a more decomposable material?

Open Web source:

Freinkel, Susan. “A Brief History of Plastic’s Conquest of the World.” Scientific American. May 29, 2011. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-brief-history-of-plastic-world-conquest/.

Combs are one of the oldest tools and are/have been used by humans across many different cultures for detangling, decoration, and delousing of the hair. Amongst every other beauty/health and hygiene product, the comb has not changed very much other than the material used to make it.

 

Peer-Reviewed Source:

Kardash, O. V., and T. M. Ponomareva. 2012. “MEDIEVAL (9TH-13TH CENTURY) COMBS FROM NORTHWESTERN SIBERIA.” Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology Of Eurasia (Elsevier Science) 40, no. 2: 72-82. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed January 26, 2016).

Until the 13th Century, the native peoples of Northwestern Siberia used mostly unilateral combs made from bone or a single piece of wood. These medieval unilateral combs were not only used for hygiene but also as elements of “coiffure” and amulets.

I’m going to use the first web source to expand on the author’s method of understanding the object. The author looks at how the object came to be, how it was made as a hand tool, how people from the past would know exactly what to do with a present-day comb, and how it was not only used for hygiene, but also for decoration in the hair. The author talks about the shape, practicality, versatility, and other aspects of the comb, which compares to Prown’s methods in a way.20160125_222453 20160125_222414 20160125_222404

Bridges

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I believe bridges are a very convenient way to help travlers or everyday citizens commute from place to place. I think it is very crazy about how much construction and way of thinking have changed over the years. Long before, near the time the Brooklyn Bridge was built, people thought the idea of driving over water was absolutely insane to think about. Nowadays, when we see a bridge we think nothing of it. A lot of bridges are overlooked when it comes to the beauty, the Golden Gate and the Brooklyn Bridges are great examples of this. They both have certain different characteristics that one would not see just be quickly glimpsing at them.

The Golden Gate Bridge was opened in the year of 1937 connecting San Fransisco and the Pacific Bay. It is a suspension bridge which means some parts of it hangs from cables connecting to the posts. It ended up costing around $35 million to finish this project.  are 6 lanes for vehicles and a walk way on both sides for pedestrians and bicyclists.  The bridge was painted “International Orange” to compliment the natural surroundings and to enhance the Bridge’s visibility is fog. When photos are taken of the Golden Gate Bridge, most are set at a sunset or a night setting. I believe they do this to really show the beautiful touch the lights on the cables bring. You can usually see the city in the back ground with all the lights turned on to really capture the city setting. Pictures are usually also taken from above the scene to show the length of the bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge was opened in a lot earlier of a time of 1883 connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. It too has 6 lanes for vehicles and supports pedestrian walkway. This bridge took about $320 million of todays money, believing to be because all of the advancements in technology making construction a lot easier in current day.  Construction took a lot more than time and work, it also took around 27 lives because all the fumes and things the workers were having to be put through. When pictures are taken of this bridge, most are during the day setting but of course there are night and some sunset and I believe most are during the day to capture the history and details of the framework and granite of the postings.  The photos are usually taken from lower grounds to show distance from the water to the bridge and to to also show the thickness, which is 15 ft thick.

Both bridges are absolutely beautiful in pictures and both have not been remodeled or replaced which shows the belief that they do hold a purpose more than just looking good in pictures. There is a purpose and meaning behind both. I believe there is more to The Brooklyn because of the lives that were lost, it serves as a memorial as well for the loved ones.

 

Thanksgiving

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I remember that learning about thanksgiving for the first time was kind of weird when I think about it. I didn’t really understand that much about eating and how the natives and pilgrims played a part in it. It was basically like Christmas for me, I didn’t really understand the point behind the celebrations but i never complained. Some activities we did was make turkeys out of our hands and make those native american paper hats. I remember it just being either an arts and crafts day or some teachers would play a Peanuts movie or something like that.