Italian Historical Developments of Teaching and Museum Valorization of Mechanism Models

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper presents collections of models of mechanisms from Italian Universities, that have historical interest, with the aim of refreshing attention to the technical and cultural heritage.

 The article is clear and well written.

I point out some inaccuracies regarding the collection of the Politecnico di Torino. It is currently located in a corridor of the didactic laboratories, visible to students. The new arrangement of the models, in an adequate number of cabinets, avoids problems of overlapping the mechanisms as noted by the authors.

The mechanism visible in figure 18, on the left, behind the Cardan joint, is a pulley with cone clutch made by the Schröder company.

Minor suggestions

line 243: presntàpresent

line 326: lylindricalàcylindrical

line 326: [6à[6]

line 606: Fig.2withà Fig.2 with

line 611: [27, 45,]à [27, 45]

lines 661, 690: Polytechnic of TurinàPolitecnico di Torino

line 721: transmission., It shouldà transmission. It should

In my opinion, the paper can be accepted in the current form.

Author Response

the author thnaks the rveiewrs for approving the paper with acceptance for publication

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper presents a study on historical developments of teaching and museum valorization of mechanism models in Italian scientific museums. The description of the evolution of scientific culture in museum is well documented. The introduction could be enlarged considering other theories related to museum expositions, from the field of architecture that are strongly connected to didactic activities. Important is the concept of of static and dynamic museum. (Refer the introduction of https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125155). Also, the reference to the post-Pompidou museum is needed (refer The Museum Transformed: Design and Culture in the Post-Pompidou Age, 1990). A generalComment: the paper is high auto referenced by the authors. Thus new reference especially in the introduction could enlarge the scientific background. 

Author Response

the authors appreciate the comments of the reviewes asking for enlarging the view of the paper contents. But the paper is mainly focused on aspects related to mechanical engineering teaching frames, and although models were and are still used also in musem exhibitions. the museum valirization is still at minoir levels at least in Italy, as per the aim of the paper content and therefer the authors would not like to mention other conury mmusemus.  as per the large auto referencing , as already mentioned in the previouss revsion, this is due to the specific topic on Italian frames and to the aìfact thta the authors are those who have addressed specifically those Italian aspects.  the authors cobnsder not convenitn to increase the legnth of the paper with other citation and dicussion, as indeed could be intersting when referring to other countires, even considering the specific aim of the special issue on Italian advances.

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The comments are not considered