The FINANCIAL — BOSTON — On Sunday, May 15, 2011, The Boston Globe will publish a special magazine devoted to the 150th anniversary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"MIT 150," a 44-page full-color glossy magazine, will appear in all editions of The Sunday Boston Globe.
The magazine features an introductory essay by Microsoft Cofounder and Chairman Bill Gates, who, in addition to being a frequent speaker at MIT and occasional online student, also took several classes at the school while a student at Harvard University.
The Globe's magazine celebrates 150 contributions MIT has made in the worlds of technology, science, health care, culture, transportation, economics and more. Leading up to the magazine's publication, offers daily peeks at its content as a preview for readers.
While MIT has long been an icon of American innovation, readers may not be fully aware of how the school has changed the way we live, work, travel, think, learn, interact, do business, conserve energy, fight wars, build cities and more. Almost every day, readers likely do something that is a result of strides in innovation and technology at MIT. The magazine's main editorial feature is a list of these advancements, "150 Ways MIT Changed the World."
Checking in at number five is the birth of the biotech boom, courtesy of Phillip A. Sharp, a cancer researcher at MIT who helped found Biogen, which has developed treatments for not only cancer, but also hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases. At number four is the now-ubiquitous e-mail. The first e-mail was sent by MIT alumnus Ray Tomlinson in 1971. It is thanks to Tomlinson that we use the "@" symbol to separate the user's name from the computer host. And the transistor radio, co-invented by MIT doctoral alum William Shockley, makes number three on the list. Without transistors, we wouldn't have hearing aids, portable radios or televisions.
"MIT's lasting impact on our society is astounding," said Doug Most, deputy managing editor, Features, for The Boston Globe. For 150 years, the school has had a remarkable ability to churn out big ideas that affect the way we live, and you'll see many of them in the pages of this magazine."
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