A difference maker
Vannevar Bush PhD ’16, a unique figure in American history, transformed his country’s scientific establishment during its wartime hour of need.
3 Questions: Evelyn Fox Keller on the nature-nurture debates
In a new book, prominent historian of science dismisses the ‘unanswerable’ question of whether heredity or the environment matter more in human development.
Galileo revisited: How ribbons roll
In a twist on a classic experiment, MIT researchers discover how flexible cylinders behave when rolling down a slope.
Explained: The Shannon limit
A 1948 paper by Claude Shannon SM ’40, PhD ’40 created the field of information theory — and set its research agenda for the next 50 years.
Their infinite wisdom
An MIT historian of science uncovers the saga of the Russian scholars whose mysticism helped them redefine the concept of infinity
ET: Check your voicemail
New message beamed to the stars commemorates Earth’s first attempt to reach out to intelligent aliens
Landing Apollo via Cambridge
Former MIT Instrumentation Lab member recalls his contribution to the safe landing of Apollo 11 on the lunar surface.
Professor Emeritus Claude Shannon, founder of digital communications, dies at 84
Longtime MIT professor of electrical engineering and of mathematics pioneered information theory and helped lay the foundations for modern computing, cryptography, and artificial intelligence.