History

Left: A water sample undergoing testing using the J-WAFS-funded water quality test kit soon to be deployed throughout Nepal. Right: Citrus trees infected with citrus greening disease are highly contagious and can wipe out whole orange groves. A J-WAFS-funded sensor could help farmers detect the disease much earlier.

J-WAFS announces 2019 Solutions Grants supporting agriculture and clean water

Projects address access to clean water in Nepal via wearable E. coli test kits, improving the resilience of commercial citrus groves, and more.

September 17, 2019

Richard Samuels, the Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the MIT Center for International Studies, introduces Suzanne Berger, MIT’s John M. Deutch Institute Professor, and Jan-Werner Mueller, a professor of politics at Princeton University, at MIT’s Starr Forum event on global populism, Sept. 12.

Understanding populism

At MIT forum, scholars wrestle with the dynamics of a global political trend.

September 16, 2019

“I really think about myself first as a historian of modernity,” says Associate Professor Timothy Hyde. “Architectural history is the particular vehicle that I use to explore the history of modernity.”

Uncovering links between architecture, politics, and society

“Every building is ultimately a compromise” involving many stakeholders, says architectural historian Timothy Hyde.

September 10, 2019

High-resolution mapping of the distribution of elements in a sample from the 2,000-year-old Temple Scroll, as shown by the colors at the right of this image, is providing insight into the scroll's ancient fabrication methods.

How to make a book last for millennia

Study of Dead Sea Scroll sheds light on a lost ancient parchment-making technology.

September 6, 2019

Building on the legacy of the Apollo program, MIT faculty, staff, and students are working toward the next great advances in space flight — ones that could propel humans back to the moon, and to parts still unknown.

Taking the next giant leaps

Fifty years after the first moon landing with Apollo 11, the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics looks to the future of space exploration at MIT.

September 5, 2019

When religion meets secularism in urban planning

“I’m interested in the peaceful coexistence of communities,” says PhD student Babak Manouchehrifar, who left his home country of Iran to study at MIT.

July 24, 2019

Philip Freelon stands in the lobby of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, designed by the Freelon Group and HOK.

Philip Freelon, professor of the practice and champion of diversity in architecture, dies at 66

Noted architect designed landmark civic, cultural, and educational buildings.

July 15, 2019

"As an engineer and historian, I’ve been 'bilingual' my entire career,” says David Mindell, the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; professor of aeronautics and astronautics; and co-founder and CEO of Humatics Corporation. “Dual competence is a good model for undergraduates at MIT as well."

3Q: David Mindell on his vision for human-centered robotics

Engineer and historian discusses how the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing might integrate technical and humanistic research and education.

June 18, 2019

PhD student Clare Kim studies the history of mathematics and the ways that mathematicians interacted with artists, humanists, and philosophers throughout the 20th century.

A scholar and teacher re-examines moments in the history of STEM

“I love teaching,” says PhD student Clare Kim. “It’s not that I’m just imparting knowledge, but I want [my students] to develop a critical way of thinking.”

June 13, 2019

JoAnne Yates and her new book “Engineering Rules: Global Standard Setting Since 1880.”

Engineers set the standards

MIT business historian’s new book chronicles the emergence of global standardization in technology.

June 12, 2019

Dwaipayan Banerjee says he will endeavor to answer the question: What is lost when a handful of U.S.-based corporations seek to determine hierarchies of technology work and control how its social benefits are globally distributed?

Dwaipayan Banerjee receives 2019 Levitan Prize in the Humanities

Award will support research for "A Counter History of Computing in India."

June 10, 2019

Timothy Hyde and his new book, “Ugliness and Judgment.”

The politics of ugly buildings

In new book, MIT’s Timothy Hyde looks at the architectural controversies that have helped shape Britain.

May 24, 2019

Robin Scheffler and his new book, “A Contagious Cause: The American Hunt for Cancer Viruses and the Rise of Molecular Medicine.”

In cancer research, a winding road to discovery

Book by MIT professor examines the circuitous history behind the investigation of cancer as a contagious illness.

May 14, 2019

From science class to the stock exchange

“I’m all about finding connections,” says senior Stephon Henry-Rerrie about his path from engineering to the financial sector.

April 30, 2019

Will Deringer examines the history of human efforts to use statistics to influence opinions and shape policy. “Many MIT students will likely be practitioners in the data field,” the assistant professor says, “so I want to encourage them to think about issues, such as: Why do we invest so much trust in numbers, and what are the consequences for who we are?”

The quest to understand human society scientifically

In STS.047 (Quantifying People), MIT students explore the history of science from the 17th century to the present, through the eyes of statisticians and sociologists.