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.
Overview
Syllabus
1. Introduction, Course Overview, What is Technology?.
2. America in 1850: The Age of Transformation.
3. William Barton Rogers & The Foundational Years, 1861-1896.
4. Harvard, MIT, and Building a New Campus.
5. MIT and the corporate world in the age of big business, 1890-1930.
6. World War I, the 1920s, and the 1930s.
8. World War II and the Aftermath.
9. World War II and the Aftermath.
10. Aerospace and Computing in the 1960s, Lab Life in the 1970s, The Past Three Decades.
Taught by
Prof. David Mindell and Prof. Merritt Roe Smith
