Winner, 2009 Outstanding Book Award, History of Education SocietyWinner, 2009 Richard Slatten Prize for Excellence in Virginia Biography, Virginia Historical Society Conceptual founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, William Barton Rogers was a highly influential scientific mind and educational reformer of the nineteenth century. A. J. Angulo recounts the largely unknown story of one man's ideas and how they gave way to the creation of one of America’s premier institutions of higher learning. MIT's long tradition of teaching, research, and technological innovation for real-world applications is inexorably linked to Rogers’ educational philosophy. Emphasizing the “useful arts”—a curriculum of specialized scientific study stressing theory and practice, innovation and functionality—Rogers sought to revolutionize standard educational practices of the day. Controversial in an era typified by a generalist approach to teaching the sciences, Rogers’ model is now widely emulated by institutions throughout the world. Exploring the intersection of Rogers' educational philosophy and the rise of technical institutes in America, this biography offers a long-overdue account of the man behind MIT.

The evolution of MIT, as seen in a series of crucial decisions over the years.

The intellectual heritage of MIT: an account of "the flow of ideas" about science and education that shaped the Institute as it emerged and that inspires it today. The motto on the seal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Mens et Manus" -- "mind and hand" -- signals the Institute's dedication to what MIT founder William Barton Rogers called "the most earnest cooperation of intelligent culture with industrial pursuits." Mind and Hand traces the ideas about science and education that have shaped MIT and defined its mission -- from the new science of the Enlightenment era and the ideals of representative democracy spurred by the Industrial Revolution to new theories on the nature and role of higher education in nineteenth-century America. MIT emerged in mid-century as an experiment in scientific and technical education, with its origins in the tension between these old and new ideas. Mind and Hand was undertaken by Julius Stratton after his retirement from the presidency of MIT and continued by Loretta Mannix after his death; Philip N. Alexander, of the MIT Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, stepped in to complete the project. The combined efforts of these three authors have given us what Julius Stratton envisioned -- "a coherent account of the flow of ideas" from which MIT emerged.

"[T]hese countless connecting threads, woven into one indissoluble texture, form that ever-enlarging web which is the blended product of the world's scientific and industrial activity." -- William Barton Rogers, 1860, "Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology "Inspired by an exhibition of 150 objects created by the MIT Museum to mark MIT's sesquicentennial, this lavishly illustrated volume is a unique collection of visual and written meditations about the making and meaning of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The story of MIT is more than a simple tale of a founder's vision. It is greater than the sum of all the stories that have been or are yet to be told by the hundreds of thousands who have a direct personal connection with the Institute. Yet, with the assistance of the collective intelligence of the MIT community, the Museum was able to capture some of those "countless connecting threads" -- from a towering module for the first real-time digital computer to the famous Baker House Piano Drop. Part history, part catalog, part souvenir, "Countless Connecting Threads" invites readers to (re)discover, through some of the Institute's most evocative objects, the essence of the vast and varied tapestry that is MIT.

Winner, 2009 Outstanding Book Award, History of Education SocietyWinner, 2009 Richard Slatten Prize for Excellence in Virginia Biography, Virginia Historical SocietyConceptual founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, William Barton Rogers was a highly influential scientific mind and educational reformer of the nineteenth century. A. J. Angulo recounts the largely unknown story of one man's ideas and how they gave way to the creation of one of America's premier institutions of higher learning. MIT's long tradition of teaching, research, and technological innovation for real-world applications is inexorably linked to Rogers' educational philosophy. Emphasizing the "useful arts"-a curriculum of specialized scientific study stressing theory and practice, innovation and functionality-Rogers sought to revolutionize standard educational practices of the day. Controversial in an era typified by a generalist approach to teaching the sciences, Rogers' model is now widely emulated by institutions throughout the world. Exploring the intersection of Rogers' educational philosophy and the rise of technical institutes in America, this biography offers a long-overdue account of the man behind MIT.

Academic thought-leaders in the field of technology transfer analyze critically the factors behind success-oriented entrepreneurial start-up cultures on university campuses.

A leading African-American historian of race in America exposes the uncomfortable truths about race, slavery and the American academy, revealing that our leading universities, dependent on human bondage, became breeding grounds for the racist ideas that sustained it.