STS.050
The History of MIT
Examines the history of MIT, from its founding to the present, through the lens of the history of science and technology. Topics include William Barton Rogers; the modern research university and educational philosophy; campus, intellectual, and organizational development; changing laboratories and practices; MIT's relationship with Boston, the federal government, and industry; and notable activities and achievements of students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Includes guest lecturers, on-campus field trips, and interactive exercises. Enrollment limited.
Spring 2016
Topics
- Introduction, Course Overview. What is MIT? Why MIT?
- William Barton Rogers and MIT’s Foundational Years
- Growing Pains: MIT in Boston, MIT-Harvard Merger
- MIT in the 1920s and 1930s
- World War II and the Aftermath
- Guest Speaker: Professor David Kaiser
- Guest Speaker: Professor David Mindell
- MIT in the 1960s
- MIT in the 1970s and 1980s
- Guest Speaker: Alan Marcum, Director of Treasury
Readings
- Kevles, Daniel J., Alexander Keyssar, et al. “Optional: “A House Dividing: 1851–1860.” In Inventing America: A History of the United States. Vol. 1. W. W. Norton & Company Incorporation, 2002. ISBN: 9780393974355.
- Pearl, Matthew. Chapters 1 and 2 in The Technologists: A Novel . Random House, 2012. ISBN: 9781400066575.
- Angulo, A. J. “Instituting a New Education” and “Convergence of Interests.” In William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780801890338.
- Noble, David. Chapter 1 in America By Design: Science, Technology, and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism . Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN: 9780195026184.
- Shuh, John Hennigar. “50 Ways to look at a Big Mac Box” from “Teaching Yourself to Teach With Objects.” Journal of Education 7, no. 4 (1982): 15.
- Holman, Silas W. 1899. “The Function of the Laboratory.” In Technology Review 1 (January 1899): 13–35.
- Wendell, George V. “Fraternities and Their Place in Institute Life.” Technology Review 9 (April 1907): 161–168.
- Jarzombek, Mark. Designing MIT: Bosworth’s New Tech . Northeastern, 2004, pp. 56–114.
- Rogers, R. E. “A Record in College Celebrations.” Technology Review 18 (July 1916): 463–466.
- Excerpts from Chapter 1 in Technology’s War Record . Alumni Committee of MIT, 1920, pp. 1–10 and 53–56.
- “New Technology Plans Announced.” In The Technology Review November 1913.
- “Some Interesting Comparisons.” In The Technology Review November 1913.
- “Progress on the New Buildings”.In The Technology Review November 1914: 539–42.
- Pearson, Henry. “A Site for Technology,” “Concerning ‘Mr. Smith’,” and “The New Buildings.” In R_ichard Cockburn Maclaurin, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1909–1920_. The Macmillan Company, 1937.
- [KAI] Lécuyer, Christophe. “Patrons and a Plan.” 2010.
- Edwin B. Wilson to Karl T. Compton. Letter, March 14, 1930.
- Buderi, Robert. Chapters 11 and 12 in The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technological Revolution . Touchstone, 1998. ISBN: 9780684835297.
- Hughes, Thomas. “MIT as System Builder: SAGE.” In Rescuing Prometheus: Four Monumental Projects that Changed the Modern World . Vintage, 2000. ISBN: 9780679739388.
- Killian, James. “Sputnik and Its Shockwaves” and “To Reassure the Nation.” In Sputnik, Scientists, and Eisenhower: A Memoir of the First Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology . MIT Press, 1977, pp. 1–39. ISBN: 9780262110662.
- Jr. Seamans, Robert C. “The NASA Years.” In Aiming at Targets: The Autobiography of Robert C. Seamans, Jr . University Press of the Pacific, 2004. ISBN: 9781410218315.
- Waldrop, M. Mitchell. “The Phenomena Surrounding Computers.” In The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution that Made Computing Personal . Penguin Books, 2002. ISBN: 9780142001356.
- Levy, Steven. “Spacewar.” In Hackers: Heros of the Computer Revolution . O’Reilly Media, 2010. ISBN: 9781449388393.
- Leacock, Richard. November Actions . Film, 1969. *Note: The MIT Museum is restoring Leacock’s unfinished documentary November Actions. Students in the class watched a preliminary version of this film, which is in the process of being restored.
- Weisner, Jerome B. “Science, Technology, and the Quality of Life.” (1971).
- Turkle, Sherry. “Hackers: Loving the Machine for Itself.” In The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit: Memories and Memoirs . MIT Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780262701112.
- Brand, Stewart. “Demo or Die” and “The Room Who Will Giggle.” In The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at M. I. T . Penguin Books, 1988. ISBN: 9780140097016.
- Brooks, Rodney. “Planetary Ambassadors.” Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us . Vintage, 2003. ISBN: 9780375725272.
- Moss, Frank. “I Am a Creator.” In The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab Are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Transform Our Lives . Crown Business. 2011. ISBN: 9780307589101.
Spring 2011
This course examines the history of MIT through the lens of the broader history of science and technology, and vice versa. The course covers the founding of MIT in 1861 and goes through the present, including such topics as William Barton Rogers, educational philosophy, biographies of MIT students and professors, intellectual and organizational development, the role of science, changing laboratories and practices, and MIT's relationship with Boston, the federal government, and industry. Assignments include short papers, presentations, and final paper. A number of classes are concurrent with the MIT150 Symposia.
Readings
- Maier, Pauline, et al. “A House Dividing: 1851–1860.” In Inventing America: A History of the United States . W. W. Norton & Company, 2006, pp. 422–49. ISBN: 9780393168167.
- Selections from Miller, Douglas. In The Birth of Modern America 1820–1850 . Macmillian Pub Co, 1970. ISBN: 9780672635090.
- Optional Reading : Howe, Daniel. “The Revolutions of 1848” and “Finale: A Vision of the Future.” In What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America 1815–1848 . Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 792–855. ISBN: 9780195078947.
- Angulo, A. J. “Instituting a New Education.” In William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT . The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp. 86–100. ISBN: 9780801890338.
- ———. “Convergence of Interests.” In William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT . The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp. 101–23. ISBN: 9780801890338.
- Optional Reading : Pearson, Henry. Selections from Richard Cockburn Maclaurin, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1909–1920 . The Macmillan Company, 1937.
- Noble, David. Selections from America by Design: Science, Technology, and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism . Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN: 9780195026184.
- [Becoming MIT] pp. 75–102. Lécuyer, Christophe. 2010. “Patrons and a Plan.”
- Servos, John. “The Industrial Relations of Science: Chemical Engineering at MIT, 1900–1939.” Isis 71, no. 4 (1980): 531–49.
- Lécuyer, Christophe. “The Making of a Science Based Technological University: Karl Compton, James Killian, and the Reform of MIT, 1930–1957.” Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 23 (1992): 153–80.
- WEEK #: 7 · TOPIC: Symposium: Leaders in Science and Engineering: The Women of MIT · READINGS: [Becoming MIT] pp. 216–50. Bailyn, Lotte. “Putting Gender on the Table.”
- [Becoming MIT] pp. 103–36. Douglas, Deborah. 2010. “MIT and War.”
- Dupree, A. Hunter. “The Great Instauration of 1940.” In The Twentieth Century Sciences: Studies in the Biography of Ideas . Edited by Gerald Holton. W. W. Norton & Company, 1972, pp. 443–67. ISBN: 9780393063844.
- Hughes, Thomas. Selections from Rescuing Prometheus: Four Monumental Projects That Changed the Modern World . Vintage, 2000. ISBN: 9780679739388.
- Leslie, Stuart. “A University Polarized Around the Military.” In The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford . Columbia University Press, 1994, pp. 14–43. ISBN: 9780231079594.
- Leslie, Stuart. “The Days of Reckoning: March 4 and April 3.” In The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford . Columbia University Press, 1994, pp. 233–56. ISBN: 9780231079594.
- [Becoming MIT] pp. 185–212. Durant, John. 2010. “‘Refrain from Using the Alphabet’: How Community Outreach Catalyzed the Life Sciences at MIT.” 2010.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2016
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2011
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.