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Cover image of William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT
Cover image of William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT
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William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT

A. J. Angulo

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Winner, 2009 Outstanding Book Award, History of Education Society
Winner, 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...

Winner, 2009 Outstanding Book Award, History of Education Society
Winner, 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.

Reviews

Reviews

Nicely written, well researched.

MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, has long needed a scholarly biography. Now, thanks to A.J. Angulo, we have a very good one.

The research is impressive, and historians of technology will benefit from Angulo's work.

A.J. Angulo has provided a compelling biography of William Barton Rogers.

Will be of particular interest to historians of education and historians of science and technology... This is a fine history of Rogers's scientific and educational ideals and illuminates a fascinating origin story of MIT in the landscape of early-nineteenth-century Virginia.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
240
ISBN
9781421400297
Illustration Description
1 halftone, 3 line drawings
Table of Contents

Preface
1. An Uncertain Future
2. Tenure in the Tumult
3. From Soils to Species
4. Advancing and Diffusing
5. Thwarted Reform
6. Instituting a New Education
7. Convergence of Interests
8. Reception of the

Preface
1. An Uncertain Future
2. Tenure in the Tumult
3. From Soils to Species
4. Advancing and Diffusing
5. Thwarted Reform
6. Instituting a New Education
7. Convergence of Interests
8. Reception of the Idea
9. This Fatal Year
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Author Bio