Becoming MIT: Moments of DecisionDavid Kaiser How did MIT become MIT? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology marks the 150th anniversary of its founding in 2011. Over the years, MIT has lived by its motto, Mens et Manus (Mind and Hand), dedicating itself to the pursuit of knowledge and its application to real-world problems. MIT has produced leading scholars in fields ranging from aeronautics to economics, invented entire academic disciplines, and transformed ideas into market-ready devices. This book examines a series of turning points, crucial decisions that helped define MIT. Many of these issues have relevance today: the moral implications of defense contracts, the optimal balance between government funding and private investment, and the right combination of basic science, engineering, and humanistic scholarship in the curriculum. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 God Speed the Institute | 15 |
2 Mergers and Acquisitions | 37 |
3 Patrons and a Plan | 59 |
4 MIT and War | 81 |
5 Elephant on the Charles | 103 |
6 Time of Troubles for the Special Laboratories | 123 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
academic administration American Annual Report Archives and Special Bailyn Baltimore Biological Birgeneau Cambridge campus chair Chemical Engineering chemistry Cold Cold War corporations Courtesy curriculum David Baltimore Dean December defense Department dollars Electrical Engineering Eliot experience federal folder Francis Amasa Walker funding gender graduate Harvard Herbert Goldstein Ibid industrial Institute Archives Institute of Technology Institute's Instrumentation Laboratory John Karl Compton later Lawrence Lewis committee Lincoln Laboratory Maclaurin Massachusetts Merritt Roe Smith military million in 2008 Mind and Hand MIT Museum MIT's Museum Nancy Hopkins Noyes number of women Panel physicist Physics political President problems Professor projects Rad Lab radar rDNA research Recombinant DNA Research Laboratory research university Robert Birgeneau School of Science science and engineering scientific scientists Shaler Special Collections special laboratories Stratton and Mannix Susan Hockfield teaching Tech Plan Technology Review tion undergraduate University Press Vellucci Walker William Barton Rogers women faculty members