The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university located in Cambridge Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent universities, Harvard University and the Massachusetts, Massachusetts Massachusetts has been significant throughout American history. Plymouth was the second permanent English settlement in North America. Many of Massachusetts's towns were founded by colonists from England in the 1620s and 1630s. During the eighteenth century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that led. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research. MIT is one of two private land-grant universities Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890[b] and is also a sea-grant The sea grant colleges are a group of 30 U.S. universities that are involved in the National Sea Grant College Program. Members of the program are involved in scientific research, education, training, and extension projects geared toward the conservation and practical use of U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes and other marine areas. The program was and space-grant The space-grant colleges compose a network of 52 consortia, based at universities across the United States, for outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico and consists of multiple independent institutions, with one of the institutions acting as the lead university.
Founded by William Barton Rogers William Barton Rogers is best known for setting down the founding principles, advocating for, and finally incorporating the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1861. The university opened in 1865 after the American Civil War in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States The technological and industrial history of the United States describes the United States' emergence as one of the largest nations in the world as well as the most technologically powerful nation in the world. The availability of land and labor, the diversity of climate, the ample presence of navigable canals, rivers, and coastal waterways, and, the university adopted the European university model European research universities date from the founding of the University of Bologna in 1088, although the University of Paris and the University of Magnaura (AD 425) contend for that distinction. In the 19th and 20th centuries, European universities concentrated upon science and research, their structures and philosophies having shaped the and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date.[8] Its current 168-acre (68.0 ha) campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile (1.6 km) along the northern bank of the Charles River basin The Charles River is an 80 mi long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston. It is also sometimes called the River Charles.[5] MIT researchers were involved in efforts to develop computers The Whirlwind computer was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the first computer that operated in real time, used video displays for output, and the first that was not simply an electronic replacement of older mechanical systems. Its development led directly to the United States Air Force's Semi Automatic Ground, radar Radar is an object-detection system that uses electromagnetic waves - specifically radio waves - to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, spacecraft, mountain ranges, radio and TV towers, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish, or, and inertial guidance An Inertial Navigation System is a navigation aid that uses a computer, motion sensors (accelerometers) and rotation sensors (gyroscopes) to continuously calculate via dead reckoning the position, orientation, and velocity (direction and speed of movement) of a moving object without the need for external references. It is used on vehicles such as in connection with defense research during World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland · and the Cold War The Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition existing after World War II (1939–1945), primarily between the Soviet Union and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, particularly the United States. Although the primary participants' military forces never. In the past 60 years, MIT's educational disciplines have expanded beyond the physical sciences Physical Science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the biological sciences. However, the term "physical" creates an unintended, somewhat arbitrary distinction, since many branches of physical science also study biological phenomena and engineering Engineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific, and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or invention into fields like biology Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy, cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of how information, e.g., concerning perception, language, reasoning, and emotion, is represented and transformed in the brain. It consists of multiple research disciplines, including psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy, neuroscience, learning sciences, linguistics, anthropology,, economics Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek οἰκονομία from οἶκος (oikos, "house") + νόμος (nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)". Current economic, philosophy Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word "philosophy" comes from the, linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of natural language. Linguistics encompasses a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure and the study of meaning (semantics and pragmatics). Grammar encompasses morphology (the formation and composition of words), syntax (the rules that determine how words, political science Political science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Political scientists "see themselves engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. And from these revelations they attempt to construct, and management Management in all business areas and organizational activities are the acts of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing.[9]
MIT enrolled 4,232 undergraduates and 6,152 graduate students for the Fall 2009–2010 term.[4] It employs about 1,009 faculty members.[3] Its endowment and annual research expenditures are among the largest of any American university.[10] 75 Nobel Laureates The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. They were established in 1895 by the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901. The, 47 National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. The twelve member presidential Committee recipients, and 31 MacArthur Fellows The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation each year to typically 20 to 40 United States citizens or residents, of any age and working in any field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work." are currently or have previously been affiliated with the university.[3][6] The aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would be the seventeenth largest economy in the world.[11]
The Engineers sponsor 33 sports, most of which compete in the NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi- voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are located in Indianapolis, Indiana Division III's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the States of Connecticut, and Massachusetts; the Division I rowing programs compete as part of the EARC The Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges is a college athletic conference of seventeen men's college rowing crews. It is an affiliate of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and EAWRC The Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges is an American athletic conference of eighteen women's college rowing crew teams. The conference is an affiliate of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
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History
Main article: History of the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyFoundation and early years (1861–1915)
MIT's Building 10 and Great Dome overlooking Killian CourtAs early as 1859, the Massachusetts State Legislature was given a proposal for use of newly opened lands in Back Bay in Boston for a museum and Conservatory of Art and Science.[12] In 1861, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved a charter for the incorporation of the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston Society of Natural History" submitted by William Barton Rogers William Barton Rogers is best known for setting down the founding principles, advocating for, and finally incorporating the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1861. The university opened in 1865 after the American Civil War. Rogers sought to establish a new form of higher education to address the challenges posed by rapid advances in science and technology during the mid-19th century with which classic institutions A "liberal arts" institution can be defined as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum." Although what is known today as the liberal arts college began in Europe, the term is were ill-prepared to deal.[13][14]
A 1905 map of MIT's Boston campus.The Rogers Plan, as it has come to be known, reflected the German research university model European research universities date from the founding of the University of Bologna in 1088, although the University of Paris and the University of Magnaura (AD 425) contend for that distinction. In the 19th and 20th centuries, European universities concentrated upon science and research, their structures and philosophies having shaped the, emphasizing an independent faculty engaged in research as well as instruction oriented around seminars and laboratories. Rogers proposed that this new form of education be rooted in three principles: the educational value of useful knowledge, the necessity of “learning by doing”, and integrating a professional and liberal arts education at the undergraduate level.[15][16]
| “ | ...a school of industrial science [aiding] the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. | ” |
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—[17], Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Acts of 1861, Chapter 183 |
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Because open conflict in the Civil War Union blockade – Eastern – Western – Lower Seaboard – Trans-Mississippi – Pacific Coast broke out only weeks after receiving the charter, MIT's first classes were held in rented space at the Mercantile Building in downtown Boston Boston (pronounced /ˈbɒstən/ ) is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. Boston city proper had a 2009 in 1865.[18] Though it was to be located in the middle of Boston, the mission of the new institute matched the intent of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act For fifteen years prior to the first introduction of the bill in 1857, there was a political movement calling for the creation of agriculture colleges. The movement was led by Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner of Illinois College. On February 8, 1853, the Illinois legislature adopted a resolution, drafted by Turner, calling for the Illinois to fund institutions "to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes." Although the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded what was to become the University of Massachusetts The system includes UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, and the UMass Medical School. It also has an online school called UMassOnline under this act,[d] MIT was also named a land grant school. The proceeds went toward new buildings in Boston's Back Bay in 1866; MIT was called "Boston Tech." During the next half-century, the focus of the science and engineering curriculum drifted towards vocational concerns instead of theoretical programs. MIT rejected Harvard's proposal to merge MIT with Harvard's Lawrence Scientific School.[19][c]
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U.S. News & World Report This is a massively historic discovery, says study coauthor Sara Seager, a theorist at MIT . This is showing how the Kepler mission will revolutionize ...
