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In lugnet.loc.uk, Simon Bennett writes:
> Dear All
>
> There was a letter in last week's New Civil Engineer which I shall reproduce
> for you:
>
> "I support the suggestion made by your correspondent (nCE 7 June) that
> Meccano be adopted by schools to assist in the study of construction.
> Unfortunately it is my experience that teachers expect children to construct
> things using Lego, which although it has some merits, is absolutely hopeless
> for modelling structures or demonstrating mechanics."
The man has a point. The typical construction of an inexperienced student
isn't likely to hang together very well, especially if it's built using tall
columns of basic bricks, etc. And things that don't hang together don't
demonstrate mechanical principles.
What is needed is to introduce some of the ideas found in an absolutely
brilliant work by an MIT professor (which reference is escaping me but which
most serious technic heads know of) on Lego construction idioms. Taking
these idioms on board results in much stronger constructions that imbue
basic principles quite nicely.
++Lar
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: New Civil Engineer letter
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| (...) Yes, but...Lego is easier to work with to provide the physical reality of the design. Take a wall, make it of 2x bricks non interlaced...and push a ball at it from a height. See how the ball goes right through the wall...now interlace the (...) (23 years ago, 2-Jul-01, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: New Civil Engineer letter
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| (...) I sortof see this and sortof don't. If they are talking specifically about civil engineering then fair enough, and I suppose the fact that you can "legally" bend meccano parts in ways not really possible with Lego could be relevant, but one of (...) (23 years ago, 2-Jul-01, to lugnet.technic)
| | | Re: New Civil Engineer letter
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| I feel compelled to add; When I was a Meccanno fan, some years ago now, and the proud owner of a Set 10, complete with drawer cabinet, Lego hadn't invented gear wheels yet. Because we had Lego too, and it was the construction toy of choice for (...) (23 years ago, 2-Jul-01, to lugnet.technic)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | New Civil Engineer letter
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| Dear All There was a letter in last week's New Civil Engineer which I shall reproduce for you: "I support the suggestion made by your correspondent (nCE 7 June) that Meccano be adopted by schools to assist in the study of construction. Unfortunately (...) (23 years ago, 2-Jul-01, to lugnet.loc.uk, lugnet.mediawatch) !
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