Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT

— —

Institute Historian T. F. Peterson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Eric Bender

Nightwork

A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT

Institute Historian T. F. Peterson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Eric Bender

$59.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

MIT Press
11 March 2011

Higher & further education, tertiary education; Impact of science & technology on society

Series: Nightwork

A lively introduction to MIT hacks, from the police car on the Great Dome to the abduction of the Caltech cannon.

An MIT ""hack"" is an ingenious, benign, and anonymous prank or practical joke, often requiring engineering or scientific expertise and often pulled off under cover of darkness-instances of campus mischief sometimes coinciding with April Fool's Day, final exams, or commencement. (It should not be confused with the sometimes non-benign phenomenon of computer hacking.) Noteworthy MIT hacks over the years include the legendary Harvard-Yale Football Game Hack (when a weather balloon emblazoned ""MIT"" popped out of the ground near the 50-yard line), the campus police car found perched on the Great Dome, the apparent disappearance of the Institute president's office, and a faux cathedral (complete with stained glass windows, organ, and wedding ceremony) in a lobby. Hacks are by their nature ephemeral, although they live on in the memory of both perpetrators and spectators. Nightwork, drawing on the MIT Museum's unique collection of hack-related photographs and other materials, describes and documents the best of MIT's hacks and hacking culture. This generously illustrated updated edition has added coverage of such recent hacks as the cross-country abduction of rival Caltech's cannon (a prank requiring months of planning, intricate choreography, and last-minute improvisation), a fire truck on the Dome that marked the fifth anniversary of 9/11, and numerous pokes at the celebrated Frank Gehry-designed Stata Center, and even a working solar-powered Red Line subway car on the Great Dome. Hacks have been said to express the essence of MIT, providing, as alumnus Andre DeHon observes, ""an opportunity to demonstrate creativity and know-how in mastering the physical world."" What better way to mark the 150th anniversary of MIT's founding than to commemorate its native ingenuity with this new edition of Nightwork?

By: Institute Historian T. F. Peterson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
With: Eric Bender
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Edition: updated edition
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 203mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 703g
ISBN: 9780262515849
ISBN 10: 0262515849
Series: Nightwork
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 11 March 2011
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Institute Historian T. F. Peterson has spent many years lurking in the corridors of MIT picking up gossip and monitoring hacks in progress.

Reviews for Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT

Nightwork. .. shows that students just want to have fun, especially engineering and technology students. -Publishers Weekly A reminder that it is up to each generation to go where no man has gone before. -The New York Sun