Published: New York, 1999 (paperback: 2000) More than a decade after it was hailed as an instant classic upon publication, John W. Dower’s Embracing Defeat remains an enduring masterpiece. There are countless reasons for this, but perhaps the most immediately striking is that the book is as succinct as it is exhaustive. An analysis of […]
Published: Upper Saddle River, N.J., 1999 The end is near! Or perhaps more accurately, the end seems always to be right around the corner … and it was always thus. Astronomer John of Toledo predicted the end would occur in September 1186. London astronomers foresaw an Earth-destroying deluge on February 1, 1524. Jacques Bernoulli forecast […]
Published: New York, 1998 One of the most notable figures in contemporary science fiction can be found right on the MIT campus. Joe Haldeman, who teaches several different courses in MIT’s Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, has received multiple honors for his published work. In 2010 he was named the Damon Knight Memorial Grand […]
Published: Ashland, Ore., 1997 Surely you’ve heard of Richard Feynman! Library shelves groan under the weight of books by and about the illustrious theoretical physicist. In addition to his towering scientific contributions, he was an expert safecracker, player of the bongos and the frigideira, visual artist (pseudonym “Ofey”), fan of Tuvan throat singing, and prankster […]
Installed (and premiered): Cambridge, Mass., 1996 Situated at the east end of the Hayden Library building, MIT’s Lewis Music Library is one of the most popular destinations on campus. With its outstanding collection of scores, recordings, and books, the library is among the MIT Libraries’ busiest locations. The Lewis Music Library serves a distinguished music […]
Published: Boston, 1995 Spring moves over the temperate lands of our Northern Hemisphere in a tide of new life, of pushing green shoots and unfolding buds … the different sound of the wind which stirs the young leaves where a month ago it rattled the bare branches. These things we associate with the land, and […]
Published: Washington, D.C., 1994 Since its inception in 1944, the World Bank has been providing financial support to reduce poverty in developing countries throughout the world. The concept of “participatory development” dates to the 1970s and arose from research largely funded by the World Bank. As this kit’s foreword explains, the idea is founded upon […]
Published: Port Townsend, Wash., 1993 When The Second Four Books of Poems was published in 1993, W.S. Merwin visited MIT to read from his works at the Bartos Theater. The four books in the volume had originally been published during a ten-year span between 1963 and 1973: The Moving Target, The Lice, the Pulitzer Prize-winning […]
Published: New York, 1992 The journal Nature first appeared in print in 1869 and ranks among the most prestigious scientific publications in the world. In the 1970s, as the sciences splintered into more and more refined areas of specialization and as fresh areas of research emerged, Nature began producing offshoot publications, of which Nature Genetics […]
Published: Cambridge, Mass., 1991 It’s not much to look at, but Guidelines for the Use of Video Display Terminals at MIT serves as a sort of time capsule. It also provides a specific example of the concern that arises whenever new technology is introduced into the workplace. Today computers and computer monitors are a central […]
