William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT

by A. J. Angulo

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421400297
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	01/26/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

A. J. Angulo is a professor of education and faculty affiliate in the Department of History and Global Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is the author of Diploma Mills: How For-Profit Colleges Stiffed Students, Taxpayers, and the American Dream and the editor of Miseducation: A History of Ignorance-Making in America and Abroad.

A. J. Angulo is an assistant professor of social foundations at Winthrop University.

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 Idea
9. This Fatal Year
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Although MIT is a world-class research institution, historians rarely include it in the saga of the emergence of the university. Angulo brings MIT’s genesis to life through the intriguing story of its founder's journey from early days as a geologist exploring Virginia through launching his famous university. Historians more comfortable with the liberal arts than ‘useful knowledge’ will especially benefit from a book that takes them into the mind of the man who converted the latter into a unique university mission.
—W. Bruce Leslie, The College at Brockport, State University of New York

W. Bruce Leslie

Although MIT is a world-class research institution, historians rarely include it in the saga of the emergence of the university. Angulo brings MIT’s genesis to life through the intriguing story of its founder's journey from early days as a geologist exploring Virginia through launching his famous university. Historians more comfortable with the liberal arts than ‘useful knowledge’ will especially benefit from a book that takes them into the mind of the man who converted the latter into a unique university mission.

— W. Bruce Leslie, The College at Brockport, State University of New York

Editorial Reviews

Nicely written, well researched.
—Choice

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

The research is impressive, and historians of technology will benefit from Angulo's work.
—Bruce Sinclair , Technology and Culture

A.J. Angulo has provided a compelling biography of William Barton Rogers.
—Sean Patrick Adams, Virginia Magazine

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.
—Jamie Pietruska, Review of Higher Education

This book is fascinating reading for anyone interested in the history of science and technology, in the history of higher education and, or course, in MIT itself, and is highly recommended.
—IEEE History Center Newsletter

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.
—Jamie Pietruska, Review of Higher Education

From the Publisher

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

Virginia Magazine - Sean Patrick Adams

This book is fascinating reading for anyone interested in the history of science and technology, in the history of higher education and, or course, in MIT itself, and is highly recommended.

IEEE History Center Newsletter

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

New England Quarterly

Nicely written, well researched.

Choice

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

Technology and Culture - Bruce Sinclair

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.

Review of Higher Education - Jamie Pietruska

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.

— Jamie Pietruska

Review of Higher Education

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

— Sean Patrick Adams

Virginia Magazine

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

— Bruce Sinclair

Technology and Culture