ThenNowAndBeyond052419.docx - Last edited 5/24/19 2:40 PM EDT Then, Now, and Beyond We were there 1960-2019 A book of essays about how the world has changed written by members of the MIT Class of 1964 ii Copyright @ 2019 by MIT Class of 1964 Class Historian and Project Editor-in-chief: Bob Popadic Editors: Bob Colvin, Bob Gray, John Meriwether, and Jim Monk Individual essays are copyright by the author. A Note on Excellence by F. G. Fassett From the June 1964 issue of MIT Technology Review, © MIT Technology Review Authors Jim Allen Bob Blumberg Robert Colvin Ron Gilman Bob Gray Conrad Grundlehner Leon Kaatz Jim Lerner Paul Lubin John Meriwether Jim Monk Lita Nelsen Bob Popadic David Saul Tom Seay David Sheena Don Stewart Bob Weggel Warren Wiscombe iii Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ iii Preface ................................................................................................................................................... vii Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... ix Arts and Culture .................................................................................................................................... 1 Then and Now - Did our world get better? Maybe yes. ...................................................................... 2 Period of Awareness ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Then and Now-Personal Examples ......................................................................................................................... 2 Flattening the Technology Productivity Curve .................................................................................................. 3 Better Brake than Accelerator .................................................................................................................................. 4 Closing Thoughts-Change is Good ........................................................................................................................... 5 It Was Different Then—Especially for Women ..................................................................................... 8 Considering Eliminating Woman’s Admissions - 1956 ................................................................................. 8 The Early 1960s .............................................................................................................................................................. 8 Times Have Changed ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Coeducation at MIT ...................................................................................................................................... 10 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Introduction: Women at MIT ................................................................................................................................... 10 Prologue — The 1870s through 1951 ................................................................................................................. 12 The Hamilton Committee: 1950s ........................................................................................................................... 24 Epilogue: The 1970s and Beyond .......................................................................................................................... 39 Parting Thoughts: The Bottleneck Facing Women in Academic Engineering .................................... 44 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................................... 48 References ....................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Business ................................................................................................................................................ 53 How Technology Has Changed The Law ................................................................................................ 54 Increased Productivity ............................................................................................................................................... 54 New Technology-Related Legal Issues ................................................................................................................ 55 Technology Comes to Shopping ............................................................................................................... 57 Prologue ............................................................................................................................................................................ 57 The Winds of Change ................................................................................................................................................... 57 Credit Reports ................................................................................................................................................................ 59 Enter the Personal Computers and My Activities ........................................................................................... 60 The Internet .................................................................................................................................................................... 62 Final Comments ............................................................................................................................................................. 62 Checks are Going Away and Have Been for a Long Time ................................................................. 63 Banking 1960’s Style ................................................................................................................................................... 63 Banking at the MIT Bursar’s Office ....................................................................................................................... 63 Cash Was King and You Didn’t Get it from an ATM ........................................................................................ 64 An Accidental Banker .................................................................................................................................................. 66 The 1970s ......................................................................................................................................................................... 68 Clearing Houses, Networks and Devices Change ............................................................................................ 68 The 1980s and 1990s .................................................................................................................................................. 69 Changes in Check Processing ................................................................................................................................... 70 iv 2000s Poised for a New Set of Changes .............................................................................................................. 71 Check Image Capture – Paper Becomes Electronic ........................................................................................ 71 2010s Checks Continue Decline ............................................................................................................................. 74 Summary .......................................................................................................................................................................... 75 Science and Technology .................................................................................................................. 77 Moonshot ......................................................................................................................................................... 78 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 78 My Early Interests ........................................................................................................................................................ 79 My Path to MIT ............................................................................................................................................................... 79 At MIT ................................................................................................................................................................................ 80 Technology Developed for the Moon Landing ................................................................................................. 81 After Graduation ........................................................................................................................................................... 82 Apollo ................................................................................................................................................................................