History of science

AIAA honors David Mindell for ‘Digital Apollo’MIT professor’s book earns Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award.

Historian/physicist David Kaiser wins Physics World’s 'Book of the Year Award'Kaiser is the head of MIT's Program in Science, Technology, and Society, and a senior lecturer in the Department of Physics.

3 Questions: David Kaiser on Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm shiftScholars mark 50th anniversary of 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.'

The Civil War’s iron ageMIT historian David Mindell revisits the human experience on board one of history’s most famous warships.

Hippie daysHow a handful of countercultural scientists changed the course of physics in the 1970s and helped open up the frontier of quantum information.

Wind, war and weathermenHow a Swedish bon vivant let MIT introduce modern meteorology to America — just in time to help the Allies win World War II.

A difference makerVannevar Bush PhD ’16, a unique figure in American history, transformed his country’s scientific establishment during its wartime hour of need.

3 Questions: Evelyn Fox Keller on the nature-nurture debatesIn a new book, prominent historian of science dismisses the ‘unanswerable’ question of whether heredity or the environment matter more in human development.

Galileo revisited: How ribbons rollIn a twist on a classic experiment, MIT researchers discover how flexible cylinders behave when rolling down a slope.

Their infinite wisdomAn MIT historian of science uncovers the saga of the Russian scholars whose mysticism helped them redefine the concept of infinity