MIT Museum
Encyclopedia
MIT Museum, founded in 1971, is the museum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. It hosts collections of holography
, artificial intelligence
, robotics
, maritime history, and the history of MIT. Its holography collection of 1800 pieces is the largest in the world, though not all of it is exhibited. Currently, works of Harold Edgerton and Arthur Ganson
are the two largest displays ongoing for a long time. Occasionally, there are various special exhibitions, often on the intersections of art and technology.
Since 2005 the official mission of the MIT Museum has been, "to engage the wider community with MIT’s science, technology and other areas of scholarship in ways that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century."
For a number of years, the Museum used to house the "Hall of Hacks" showcasing some of the famous MIT hacks
, but the section was closed in 2001. This was done to free up gallery space for other exhibits; the artifacts and documentation have been retained for future historical research and exhibition. A few selected larger relics of past hacks are now on semi-permanent display inside the MIT Stata Center
, including a "fire hose" drinking fountain, and full-size replicas of a cow and a police car which had been placed atop the Great Dome (but not at the same time).
In January 2011, the Museum reopened its upper galleries after an extensive renovation, to showcase "The MIT 150 Exhibition" in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of MIT's founding charter on April 10, 1861. The special exhibit consists of 150 objects, documents, and other artifacts illustrating the history of people, places, and ideas related to MIT. An extensive website was set up in tandem, with much supplemental information, including nominations from the MIT community for exhibition items, and an online timeline of history. Also, a sizable number of video interviews specially created for the exhibition are available for viewing.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. It hosts collections of holography
Holography
Holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
, artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
, maritime history, and the history of MIT. Its holography collection of 1800 pieces is the largest in the world, though not all of it is exhibited. Currently, works of Harold Edgerton and Arthur Ganson
Arthur Ganson
Arthur Ganson is a renowned kinetic sculptor. Ganson makes mechanical art demonstrations and Rube Goldberg machines with existential themes. Ganson has held residencies in science museums, collaborated with the Studebaker Movement Theatre, and been featured in one-man shows at the MIT Museum,...
are the two largest displays ongoing for a long time. Occasionally, there are various special exhibitions, often on the intersections of art and technology.
Since 2005 the official mission of the MIT Museum has been, "to engage the wider community with MIT’s science, technology and other areas of scholarship in ways that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century."
For a number of years, the Museum used to house the "Hall of Hacks" showcasing some of the famous MIT hacks
Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are practical jokes and pranks meant to prominently demonstrate technical aptitude and cleverness, or to commemorate popular culture and historical topics. The pranks are anonymously installed at night by hackers, usually, but not exclusively...
, but the section was closed in 2001. This was done to free up gallery space for other exhibits; the artifacts and documentation have been retained for future historical research and exhibition. A few selected larger relics of past hacks are now on semi-permanent display inside the MIT Stata Center
Stata Center
The Ray and Maria Stata Center or Building 32 is a academic complex designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . The building opened for initial occupancy on March 16, 2004...
, including a "fire hose" drinking fountain, and full-size replicas of a cow and a police car which had been placed atop the Great Dome (but not at the same time).
In January 2011, the Museum reopened its upper galleries after an extensive renovation, to showcase "The MIT 150 Exhibition" in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of MIT's founding charter on April 10, 1861. The special exhibit consists of 150 objects, documents, and other artifacts illustrating the history of people, places, and ideas related to MIT. An extensive website was set up in tandem, with much supplemental information, including nominations from the MIT community for exhibition items, and an online timeline of history. Also, a sizable number of video interviews specially created for the exhibition are available for viewing.