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The Structure of Engineering Revolutions

Contents

Course Description

6.933J / STS.420J provides an integrated approach to engineering practice in the real world. Students of 6.933J / STS.420J research the life cycle of a major engineering project, new technology, or startup company from multiple perspectives: technical, economic, political, and cultural. Research involves interviewing inventors, reading laboratory notebooks, evaluating patents, and looking over the shoulders of engineers as they developed today's technologies. This subject is for students who recognize that technical proficiency alone is only part of the formula for success in technology.

Course Information

This course provides an integrated approach to engineering practice in the real world. Students of 6.933J research the life cycle of a major engineering project, new technology, or startup company from multiple perspectives: technical, economic, political, and cultural. Research involves interviewing inventors, reading laboratory notebooks, evaluating patents, and looking over the shoulders of engineers as they developed today's technologies. This subject is for students who recognize that technical proficiency alone is only part of the formula for success in technology.

Level

Graduate

Instructors

Prof. David Mindell

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 2 hours / session

Syllabus

Readings

(available through amazon.com)

  • Latour, Bruno. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, October 1988. ISBN: 9780674792913.
  • MacKenzie, Donald. Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance. Reprint ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, January 29, 1993. ISBN: 9780262631471.
  • Christensen, Clayton. The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary National Bestseller That Changed The Way We Do Business. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperBusiness, May 2, 2000. ISBN: 9780066620695.
  • Tufte, Edward. Visual & Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Decision Making. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, April 1997. ISBN: 9780961392130.
  • ———. Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, February 1997. ISBN: 9780961392130.

Prerequisites / EC Credit

Course is limited to fifth-year M. Eng. students, graduate students in STS, or others by permission of instructor. For EECS M. Eng. students, subject will automatically count as one of the two EC electives that can come from any of the seven Engineering Concentration fields. Alternatively M. Eng. students may by petition use it as an elective in a specific EC if they have chosen a term project on a topic appropriate to that EC. We cannot guarantee in advance that all EC's will be represented.

Lectures and Seminar

(20%: attendance, preparation, participation)

Attendance is mandatory at lectures. Bring the books with the week's reading to class each week, as they will be referred to in discussion. Lectures will meet regularly for about the first half of the term. Then, students will be divided into groups to work on term projects. Significant in-class time is then devoted to discussion and work on projects.

Handouts

Handouts will be available at the beginning of lecture.

Discussion Papers

(30%, 3 papers, 10 points each)

A series of two-page discussion papers serve as the basic "problem sets." Some will have specific assignments whereas others will be more open format. They are due at the beginning of class. All writing assignments will be graded on force of argument, clarity of presentation and relevance to course material. We may ask for writing assignments to be submitted in ASCII via email as well. Any writing may appear anonymously on the website, at the discretion of the instructors. Proper citation practices should be followed throughout (ask if you are unsure of the details). See additional writing assignment handout sheet for more information.

Term Project

(50% of final grade)

The latter half of the term is largely taken up with group work on writing a project history of the development of a significant technology. Students will be divided up into groups, and each group will be assigned a particular project to study, and given a set of relevant materials (i.e. books, papers, phone numbers of individuals) to get the research started. A day before the 18th session, groups should submit a plan of research for the term project, including overarching themes and questions and research strategy. Significant in-class time will then be devoted to the project, and preparing a project history (~20 pages, 6000 words) written collaboratively by the group. Groups will present their projects to the entire class during the last three or four sessions. We will provide more guidelines as the time approaches.

Grading

Grades will be apportioned as follows:

50% Term Project 30% Discussion Papers 20% Attendance, Preparation, Participation

Late submissions of any assignments lose one letter grade per day, with no assignments accepted more than five days late without prior permission of instructor.

Halfway through the term, we will issue a preliminary grade, with suggestions for improvement for the remainder of the semester.

Calendar

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This calendar provides the course's lecture topics, readings, and assignment due dates. While the first half of the course is focused on lectures, a significant portion of the second half is devoted to in-class group work, where students are divided into groups to work on term projects.

SES # TOPICS / READINGS I. Introduction and Background

  • 1 Introduction, Course Overview

II. Engineers in Action

  • 2 Reading: Latour, Bruno. Science in Action. Introduction, and chapter 3, pp. 1-17 and 103-144.
  • 3 Reading: Latour, Bruno. Science in Action. Chapters 4-6, pp. 145-259.

III. The Construction of Technological Systems

  • 4 Reading: Mindell. "Opening Black's Box: Rethinking Feedback's Myth of Origin."

IV. Invention and Engineering Culture

  • 5 Reading: MacKenzie, Donald. Inventing Accuracy. Chapters 1-2.
  • 6 Reading: MacKenzie, Donald. Inventing Accuracy. Chapters 4, 7, and 8.

Assignment Due: Response Paper #1 V. Innovation and Marketplace

  • 7 Reading: Christensen, Clayton M. The Inventor's Dilemma. Chapters 1, 2, 4, 9, and 11.
  • 8 Reading: Discussion of Methodology, Research Methods, Library, Techniques, Source Materials, etc.

VI. Using Sources Effectively

  • 9 Lab Notebooks and Project Documentation: Meet in MIT Archives, Introduction to Edgerton/Forrester Notebooks

Assignment Due: Response Paper #2 VII. Group Work and Collaborative Writing

  • 10 Presentation: "Working Effectively in Groups." In-Class Group Work
  • 11 In-Class Group Work, Presentation of Project History Proposals, Discussion and Ranking

Assignment Due: Individual Project History Proposals VIII. Project History Work

  • 12 In-Class Group Work
  • 13 In-Class Group Work

IX. Visual Materials and Argumentation

  • 14 Reading: Tufte, Edward. Visual and Statistical Thinking.
  • 15 In-Class Group Work

X. Understanding Patents

  • 16 Presentation: "How to Read a Patent." In-Class Group Work
  • 17 In-Class Group Work

Assignment Due: Visual Argumentation Exercise XI. Project Histories

  • 18 In-Class Group Work

Assignment Due: Group Proposal/Plan of Project History

  • 19 In-Class Group Work
  • 20 In-Class Group Work
  • 21 In-Class Group Work
  • 22 In-Class Group Work

XII. Final Preparations

  • 23 Presentation Rehearsals
  • 24 Presentation Rehearsals

Assignment Due: Written Draft for Groups Presenting XIII. Presentations of Project Histories

  • 25 Group Presentation of Project Histories
  • 26 Group Presentation of Project Histories

Final Projects due two days after the last session.

Readings

This section provides the recommended readings for the course.

  • Latour, Bruno. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society. Reprint ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, October 1988. ISBN: 9780674792913.
  • MacKenzie, Donald. Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (Inside Technology). Reprint ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, January 29, 1993. ISBN: 9780262631471.
  • Christensen, Clayton M. The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary National Bestseller That Changed The Way We Do Business. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperBusiness, May 2, 2000. ISBN: 9780066620695.
  • Tufte, Edward. Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, February 1997. ISBN: 9780961392123.

or,

  • Tufte, Edward. Visual & Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Decision Making. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, April 1997. ISBN: 9780961392130.

(Note: the latter is much shorter and much cheaper)

Assignments

RESPONSE PAPER ASSIGNMENT # GUIDE FOR READING First Paper Assignment (PDF) Guide for Reading Latour (PDF) Second Paper Assignment (PDF) Guide for Reading MacKenzie (PDF) Third Paper Assignment (PDF)

Projects

This section contains the final project assignment, as well as final papers of student projects conducted during the 1999 and 1998 offerings of the course. All of these projects were presented in a quasi-public forum to members of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS), and the MIT community during the last week of class.

Final Project Assignment Project History Proposals (PDF) Final Presentation and Paper Guidelines (PDF) Tips for Interviewers (PDF)

Final Project Papers Fall 1999

Project Athena, by Karin Cheung, Carol Chow, Jesse Koontz, Mike Li, and Ben Self (PDF)

Fall 1998

Dragon Systems, Inc., by Mandy Mobley, Lynn Qu, Jessica Wang, Eric Sit (PDF - 1.0 MB)

Related Resources

Useful Links Research Links at MIT

LCS Timeline MIT Writing Center Homepage for the MIT library system Online library resources (contains links to electronic journals and databases) Institute Archives (make sure to check their extended hours under the handouts link) MIT Alumni Assocation Other Research Links

Charles Babbage Institute (for information on the history of computing) Information on STS-51L/Challenger Rogers Commission on the Challenger Accident Thomas A. Edison Papers Google (an excellent search engine) The New York Times (they have an excellent online archive, but check lexus nexus first to see if you can get the article for free) The Wall Street Journal (look up the company and get a "briefing book") Barrons.com (similar to the Wall Street Journal)

Course Listing

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