Overview

Hacking is a peculiarly MIT institution. Before the term became associated with computers, MIT undergraduates used it to describe any activity that took their minds off studying, led to an interesting and unusual solution to a technical problem, or generally caused non-destructive mischief. The MIT hacking culture has given us such treasures as police cars and cows on the Great Dome, a disappearing door to the President's office, and the commencement game of ""Al Gore Buzzword Bingo."" Hacks can be technical, physical, virtual or verbal. Often the underlying motivation is to conquer the inaccessible and make possible the improbable. Hacks can express dissatisfaction with local culture or with administrative decisions, but mostly they are remarkably good-hearted. They are also by definition ephemeral. The MIT Museum has amassed a collection of pictures, reports and remnants, and ""Nightwork"" includes material from two previous books published by the Museum and new materials on recent hacks. The result is an entertaining resource for hack aficionados and others.

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9780262661379

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Reviews

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

Nightwork...shows that students just want to have fun, especially engineering and technology students. -- Publishers Weekly

Author Information

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

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