Model

The ability to project an idea and make it tangible has made the model an indispensable planning tool (for example of artifacts) since the beginnings of human inventions. Moreover, its didactic-communicative value makes it an effective teaching means.

Etymologically, “model” is related to the word “mold.” It first developed in the fields of architecture and the object crafts, but has gradually been adopted in everyday and scientific terminologies. By the second half of the twentieth century, the term was no longer used primarily to describe the purely handmade, three-dimensional structure, but applied more broadly to describe an extensive variety of objects, systems, and processes. Today, “model” can mean a diagram, chart, site plan, drawing, pictogram, technical test setup (like an automobile model in a wind canal), sound model, globe, or mannequin. It can also refer to conceptual models like theories and analogies. The range of its semantic scope makes it almost impossible to arrive...