My Science School

          A museum is an institution that collects, studies, exhibits and conserves objects for cultural and educational purposes. They are of several kinds. There are museums devoted to art, science, history, industry and technology.

          The word ‘museum’ comes from the Greek word Mouseion which means ‘temple of the Muses’. The Muses were the goddesses of the arts. One of the first institutions, called Mouseion was founded in Alexandria, Egypt in the 3rd century B.C. Its aim was to collect information that might be of some interest to the scholars. The scholars used to live and carry out their research there. The museum displayed a collection of art pieces and antiquities like statues, astronomical and surgical instruments, elephant tusks and hides of rare animals.

          Later kings and nobles started having their own museums by collecting art objects and antiques from different parts of the world. However, these were private museums, meant only for their families and friends.

          After the French Revolution the doors of the French museums were opened to the general public. In 1793, during the revolution, the Republican Government established a national museum in Lauvre, Paris. For the first time in the 19th century buildings were specially designed for this purpose. One of the first buildings in Europe was the Atles Museum in Berlin, Germany. It was constructed in 1830.

          Today, we have museums in almost all the big cities of the world. They are visited by thousands of people everyday. The oldest museum in the world is the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford which was built in 1679. The largest museum in the world is the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It was founded in 1874. The largest and the most visited museum in the United Kingdom is the British Museum which was opened for public in 1759. Bombay, Madras, Delhi and other big cities in India have museums devoted to different subjects. 

          The primitive man who lived in caves had to make his way through rocks. To protect his feet he probably covered them with bags of grass, strips of animal hide or even flat pieces of wood. These were fastened to the soles of the feet by crude thongs (crude straps) bound around the ankles. These were the first shoes.

          Among the civilized people, Egyptians were the first to make shoes. They used pads of leather or papyrus (a tree with thick stem) which were bound to the feet with two straps. In order to protect the toes, its front was sometimes turned up. Samples of shoes, made around 2000 B.C. have been found in Egypt.

          In some cold countries, people developed a different kind of shoes. They were bags padded with grass and tied around the feet. 

         As far as the modern shoes are concerned, their origin can be traced back to the crusades. Crusades were the military expeditions by the European Christian countries to recover the Holy land from the Muslims in the Middle Ages. These crusaders went on long-drawn wars and had been on their feet. So it became necessary to make shoes that would last long. Gradually, fine leather shoes of attractive designs began to appear in Italy, France and England.

           The designs of shoes have always been subject to changes according to the fashion. For example, in the 16th century people preferred shoes with broad toes. In the 17th century high heels came into fashion. Kings and nobles also ordered some special changes in the designs of their shoes.

           With the development of modern techniques, many varieties of shoes are now being made. Besides leather, rubber, plastic and canvas are also being used in shoes. Plastic-covered shoes which do not need any polishing have come into fashion. Rexin-top sports shoes have become the most popular throughout the world. Today there is a wide range of shoes to choose from according to one’s needs and taste.