The Idea Factory: Learning to Think at MIT
by Pepper White
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $12.04
Your Save: $ 7.91 ( 40% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 621.092
EAN: 9780262731423
ISBN: 0262731428
Label: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 328
Publication Date: 2001-10-01
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good read if you're not going to MIT
Comment: If you're going to MIT, I bet there are loads of websites and info-dumps out there for you. This is the book for the rest of us, those that that wonder what it would have been like. How is it different? How is grad school in the sciences different from taking undergrad classes? Easy, well-paced read that is a good balance of social and academic and everything else. Worthwhile read. Just not the peak best-of-the-best. If it wasn't for the MIT info it would go (for me) from 4 to 3 stars. One L (Scott Turow's first year law at Harvard) would be 5 stars on this ranking. I enjoyed Pepper's ride, and it's a good thing that I wanted more, that I finished the book in a few happy days, but when you finish the book and feel like it could have been more it is a little frustrating.
Great for anyone making the transition from undergrad to grad in the sciences. Good for anyone who has thought about MIT.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good story, more revealing of why not to go to MIT, I think
Comment: I'll start with the disclaimers - I did not go to MIT, and didn't even think about applying. I did, however, get my master's and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering; did research in the same area as Mr. White; and worked with the folks from Caterpillar that he dealt with as a student.
All that said, I was amazed at how different MIT is from every other engineering school that I know. I had professors that actually taught material. As near as I could tell from this book, MIT professors just tell you to go figure out fluid mechanics and report back at the end of the semester how that worked out. Admittedly, the successful students will probably make good engineers. On the other hand, the rest won't be. At the very least, this philosophy led to Mr. White having a great deal of trouble with classes that shouldn't be that hard.
The book is very good - it gives a personal aspect to a famous, and faceless, university. It was interesting to see how the MIT Way impacted both students and professors. To me, it went a long way towards explaining why MIT grads are so different than most engineers. Mr. White did very well at bringing the reader into the emotion of his narrative, while remaining detached enough to keep the larger story of being at MIT not fade out.
I don't think that I would read this book with the idea of finding out if MIT was the right school, as it seems Mr. White's experience was not the norm. It is a very interesting book to read if you want to understand MIT better as an outsider.
In the end, the book left me happy to not be an MIT alum, and much more informed on what that might have been like.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I bought the wrong book...quite disheartening to read about post-graduate life at MIT!
Comment: I bought the early edition of this book from Amazon in the early 90's, with the mistaken belief that the book is about creativity at MIT.
Nevertheless, despite the sheer disappointment of my own failure in checking out the book in the first place, I plonked into the book with gusto.
In a nut shell, it's about the life of a MIT post-graduate. [The author entered MIT in 1981 & received his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1984.] Though informative in many respects, I find it quite disheartening to read about the author's personal struggles & triumphs as he went through one of the top-notch technological universities in the world. In a way, it's an eye opener for me.
Although the subtitle is 'Learning to Think at MIT', the author merely shares his own personal experiences in understanding the scientific model & tackling engineering problems as part of the MIT curriculum.
Did I enjoy reading the book? I am ambivalent at best. However, if it is of some consolation to the author, I reckon this may be a good book to read by those aspiring to get into MIT.
With that note, it may deserve a rating of 5. Regrettably, I have to give it a rating of 3 from my standpoint.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Industry needs Talent, MIT presents Talented employees, Industries rewards with charitable contributions. Continuing the cycle
Comment: MITs philosophy is best described as follows, "We teach you to think!" MIT teaches students to solve problems; retain complex scientific information; discern the application and meaning of equations; and establish a problem solving mentality the believed building blocks of thought. MIT student thus becomes the Greek, "thinking man". Professors challenge the students to approach problem solving from a framework or system understanding and read carefully the problem for inferences or vital clues to solving problems. Pattern matching similar published problems meets with minimal success; memorizing patterns is not the MIT way; many of the problems require multiple steps to solve, awareness of various formulas, and logic for pruning and selecting equations to express the idea of the problem. The student thinks about the details of the problem, recognizes simple framework constraints, and solves the problem using mathematics and physics; and genius students advance through MIT rapidly. "We try to let talented people who know what they want to achieve it here; we try to stay out their way. But if you're at all uncertain, you'll be in for a rough ride". The luke-warm seemingly spewed out of MIT; survival at MIT is finding experiments with a budget, a prestigious mentor, and projects funding yielding opportunities for meaning research and development.
Does examinations and testing represent the bulk of the MIT experience? Most of the students know a majority of the equations before attending MIT, as demonstrated by their speed at solving examination problems. I don't see alot of value in the testing. I would says the testing is requested by the students as a measurement of how well they are doing. But testing does not prove quality. It seems that testing would be stronger in the undergraduate students and R&D projects and group dynamics more of an emphasis in the graduate programs. MIT is looking for quality work. Testing is a way to build confidence. Projects deliverables are the true measurement of quality.
At MIT the students do not have time to read. Problem solving is the cherished characteristic instill in the student. Information is communicated to him like "drinking water from a fire hose".
The best approach to eating an elephant is one bite at a time. Learning to study and solve problems can be fun. Mastery of a specialized area builds confidence. Students converge on certain principles and concepts and internalize the equations for physics, thermodynamics, fluids, and computer science becoming experts in these domains. In the PMM, Pepper claims he lack EE knowledge that could have given them the win. MIT provides students with materials, drills, lathes, presses machines for fabrication. MIT believes every student should know basics of circuitry, programming, and electronics.
MIT knows that information is not intelligence; intelligence is coveted by R&D professors; the process of drawing out and revealing intelligent students is shrouded in rituals and academic ceremonies. A student willing to reveal his intelligence will receive opportunities to receive money for work completed on projects. The R&D projects provide cheap labor for the professor and quality results for the funding companies.
Thinking is preferred to reading. The professors want to help influence the thinkers that can change the world of science and technology; MIT professors appear friendly and approachable; MIT professors assistance is usually meet with questions that point the student in the correct direction rather than an answer; many of the MIT professors are fabulously wealthy, possess important technology patents rights and own big technology companies.
Lecture information is presented at a rapid flow. The professor's lectures on the material then the teacher assistances reiterate the content of the lecture with the students. Prestige may be one reason a student would desire to attend a University where the intensity and pressure would seem cruel, unfair, and self-defeating. Do MIT student hate the school?
MIT believes that global competition, ignorance, and failure to excel is where the real cruelty exists. There is a difference being taught and learning. "You need to pioneer your way through the solution yourself; blaze your own trail". The problem set given to the students are not a part of graduation by helpful for mastery of the principle and concepts; Bell curve grading destroys plenty of bright and capable minds, shifting them into the rejection side of the curve; average on the Bell curve means the student can stay in the class; and if the student is borderline between one grade and another, they may submit their lecture book, for the higher grade; students balance soccer with studies, "don't get too wrapped up in your work. Have some fun sometimes." Good advice. MIT student take their performance seriously; they sacrifice social life for work; some kill themselves, if they fail to get their Masters or Doctorate.
1. MIT graduation percentage must be successful perceived and obtainable, otherwise, the school would not survive 2. MIT prestige is more likely to be based on the attraction of big money. Darwinism adversity is thought too allow the best and brightest minds to emerge at the top. The rest are set away. MIT approach does seem very darwinistic and often student complain about having "no hope". MIT presents a Godless face too the pursuit of scientific excellence. Is intelligence excellence an individualistic aspiration. Is the isolation necessary? 2
MIT students rise through the ranks, earn prestige, gain teaching opportunities, interact with other students throught "student breaks", get a fat pay check, and make breakthroughs by work in research opportunities 3. MIT has one hand in Industry, another hand in Space, and both hands in Government 4. MIT phds are sought after for employment in think tanks, research and development, and industry consulting. MIT students are constantly preparing and being tested. Examination means working fast, understanding the problem, and know what you want from the school. 5 MIT students can program and run advanced stimulation software to solve pressing problems; fabricated circuitry; mill, lathe, and drill machine part; they designed revolutionary designs yield lower costs, reasonable safety, and maximum performance; they were capable of solving tough problems: cogeneration, nuclear energy, fusion containment, and fuel efficiency; engineer contributions designed to improve the community and not acquire money. 6. Most MIT find a niche in the system. The students develop their own sub culture within MIT; they congregate as special interest intelligentsia groups sharing a common purpose, similar interest, and possession unique skills for the group; they find willing to mentorship too preach them the doctrines and teachings they desire; they focus on topics in which they are both strong intellectually at grasping and comfortable in expanding; and avoid coursework that is perilous and prone to failure. These subcultures are very selective about who gets in. The group protects their unique entity because external admittance could destroy the group dynamics; a new person is risky because he could disrupt the interests, flow, and direction of the group; the group's research and ideas may become a source of wealth for the University. MIT longs for the opportunity to partnership with these emerging groups and profit from their technologies and inventions.
MITs value is bring smart people together; give them reasons to learn; encourage them to become creative, focused, and energized; recognize their leadership and skills; and MIT wants too maintain long term relationship with these students, as they become the next generation of brains that form the world.
Pepper says MIT students are often isolated, lonely, depressed, a over worked. He talks about a student name Steve, who is brillant but disrupted about the school and neither religious clergy nor professional psych analysis can help the kid. Twice, Pepper intervenes with Campus Police think the kid had commit suicide. The teachers talk openly about kids that have killed themselves and try to help. One possible reason for the pressure is that professors are desparate too get research money. Getting research grants means they need good workers, so they are pruning for the bests, and these takes its tole on students confidence. When Mary commits suicide, the full impact of the self confidence problems hit you in the gut. It will make you cry.
The book becomes interesting as Pepper talks about his Engineer Thesis, 720 project contest, competing in the perpetual motion machine contest. The PMM made me think about how the wheel was truing. I figure that it was pulse electromagnetic and the timing mechanism was in the box. However, I did not think about the capicator storing up and releasing a pulse. I found the experience described by Pepper challenging, insightful, and aspiring. I like the idea that companies are interested in solutions that MIT students offer. I like the idea that students are toughen to meet real world challenges and problems. This is where the fun begins, once the fear is gone. How can a student hate MIT, if MIT is the reason for their opportunties?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Accurate and humorous, a good read!
Comment: Read this book if you want to know what it is like to live and breathe and be at MIT. Being at MIT is an honor, and a privilege that I take seriously...and a pain. Pay close attention to Pepper's underlying message...MIT is a place of beautiful torture and torturous beauty...a place students hate, but alumni miss dearly.
A warning to readers...don't let his experience define yours. While I am currently going through much of what Pepper has described, I must give my fellow reviewers that his (or my) experience can be atypical. Last year, for eg, I breezed through and couldn't identify with most of Pepper's experiences. Most MIT student experiences lie between these extremes.
The bottom line...accurately painted with a great sense of humor.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good read if you're not going to MIT
Comment: If you're going to MIT, I bet there are loads of websites and info-dumps out there for you. This is the book for the rest of us, those that that wonder what it would have been like. How is it different? How is grad school in the sciences different from taking undergrad classes? Easy, well-paced read that is a good balance of social and academic and everything else. Worthwhile read. Just not the peak best-of-the-best. If it wasn't for the MIT info it would go (for me) from 4 to 3 stars. One L (Scott Turow's first year law at Harvard) would be 5 stars on this ranking. I enjoyed Pepper's ride, and it's a good thing that I wanted more, that I finished the book in a few happy days, but when you finish the book and feel like it could have been more it is a little frustrating.
Great for anyone making the transition from undergrad to grad in the sciences. Good for anyone who has thought about MIT.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good story, more revealing of why not to go to MIT, I think
Comment: I'll start with the disclaimers - I did not go to MIT, and didn't even think about applying. I did, however, get my master's and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering; did research in the same area as Mr. White; and worked with the folks from Caterpillar that he dealt with as a student.
All that said, I was amazed at how different MIT is from every other engineering school that I know. I had professors that actually taught material. As near as I could tell from this book, MIT professors just tell you to go figure out fluid mechanics and report back at the end of the semester how that worked out. Admittedly, the successful students will probably make good engineers. On the other hand, the rest won't be. At the very least, this philosophy led to Mr. White having a great deal of trouble with classes that shouldn't be that hard.
The book is very good - it gives a personal aspect to a famous, and faceless, university. It was interesting to see how the MIT Way impacted both students and professors. To me, it went a long way towards explaining why MIT grads are so different than most engineers. Mr. White did very well at bringing the reader into the emotion of his narrative, while remaining detached enough to keep the larger story of being at MIT not fade out.
I don't think that I would read this book with the idea of finding out if MIT was the right school, as it seems Mr. White's experience was not the norm. It is a very interesting book to read if you want to understand MIT better as an outsider.
In the end, the book left me happy to not be an MIT alum, and much more informed on what that might have been like.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I bought the wrong book...quite disheartening to read about post-graduate life at MIT!
Comment: I bought the early edition of this book from Amazon in the early 90's, with the mistaken belief that the book is about creativity at MIT.
Nevertheless, despite the sheer disappointment of my own failure in checking out the book in the first place, I plonked into the book with gusto.
In a nut shell, it's about the life of a MIT post-graduate. [The author entered MIT in 1981 & received his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1984.] Though informative in many respects, I find it quite disheartening to read about the author's personal struggles & triumphs as he went through one of the top-notch technological universities in the world. In a way, it's an eye opener for me.
Although the subtitle is 'Learning to Think at MIT', the author merely shares his own personal experiences in understanding the scientific model & tackling engineering problems as part of the MIT curriculum.
Did I enjoy reading the book? I am ambivalent at best. However, if it is of some consolation to the author, I reckon this may be a good book to read by those aspiring to get into MIT.
With that note, it may deserve a rating of 5. Regrettably, I have to give it a rating of 3 from my standpoint.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Industry needs Talent, MIT presents Talented employees, Industries rewards with charitable contributions. Continuing the cycle
Comment: MITs philosophy is best described as follows, "We teach you to think!" MIT teaches students to solve problems; retain complex scientific information; discern the application and meaning of equations; and establish a problem solving mentality the believed building blocks of thought. MIT student thus becomes the Greek, "thinking man". Professors challenge the students to approach problem solving from a framework or system understanding and read carefully the problem for inferences or vital clues to solving problems. Pattern matching similar published problems meets with minimal success; memorizing patterns is not the MIT way; many of the problems require multiple steps to solve, awareness of various formulas, and logic for pruning and selecting equations to express the idea of the problem. The student thinks about the details of the problem, recognizes simple framework constraints, and solves the problem using mathematics and physics; and genius students advance through MIT rapidly. "We try to let talented people who know what they want to achieve it here; we try to stay out their way. But if you're at all uncertain, you'll be in for a rough ride". The luke-warm seemingly spewed out of MIT; survival at MIT is finding experiments with a budget, a prestigious mentor, and projects funding yielding opportunities for meaning research and development.
Does examinations and testing represent the bulk of the MIT experience? Most of the students know a majority of the equations before attending MIT, as demonstrated by their speed at solving examination problems. I don't see alot of value in the testing. I would says the testing is requested by the students as a measurement of how well they are doing. But testing does not prove quality. It seems that testing would be stronger in the undergraduate students and R&D projects and group dynamics more of an emphasis in the graduate programs. MIT is looking for quality work. Testing is a way to build confidence. Projects deliverables are the true measurement of quality.
At MIT the students do not have time to read. Problem solving is the cherished characteristic instill in the student. Information is communicated to him like "drinking water from a fire hose".
The best approach to eating an elephant is one bite at a time. Learning to study and solve problems can be fun. Mastery of a specialized area builds confidence. Students converge on certain principles and concepts and internalize the equations for physics, thermodynamics, fluids, and computer science becoming experts in these domains. In the PMM, Pepper claims he lack EE knowledge that could have given them the win. MIT provides students with materials, drills, lathes, presses machines for fabrication. MIT believes every student should know basics of circuitry, programming, and electronics.
MIT knows that information is not intelligence; intelligence is coveted by R&D professors; the process of drawing out and revealing intelligent students is shrouded in rituals and academic ceremonies. A student willing to reveal his intelligence will receive opportunities to receive money for work completed on projects. The R&D projects provide cheap labor for the professor and quality results for the funding companies.
Thinking is preferred to reading. The professors want to help influence the thinkers that can change the world of science and technology; MIT professors appear friendly and approachable; MIT professors assistance is usually meet with questions that point the student in the correct direction rather than an answer; many of the MIT professors are fabulously wealthy, possess important technology patents rights and own big technology companies.
Lecture information is presented at a rapid flow. The professor's lectures on the material then the teacher assistances reiterate the content of the lecture with the students. Prestige may be one reason a student would desire to attend a University where the intensity and pressure would seem cruel, unfair, and self-defeating. Do MIT student hate the school?
MIT believes that global competition, ignorance, and failure to excel is where the real cruelty exists. There is a difference being taught and learning. "You need to pioneer your way through the solution yourself; blaze your own trail". The problem set given to the students are not a part of graduation by helpful for mastery of the principle and concepts; Bell curve grading destroys plenty of bright and capable minds, shifting them into the rejection side of the curve; average on the Bell curve means the student can stay in the class; and if the student is borderline between one grade and another, they may submit their lecture book, for the higher grade; students balance soccer with studies, "don't get too wrapped up in your work. Have some fun sometimes." Good advice. MIT student take their performance seriously; they sacrifice social life for work; some kill themselves, if they fail to get their Masters or Doctorate.
1. MIT graduation percentage must be successful perceived and obtainable, otherwise, the school would not survive 2. MIT prestige is more likely to be based on the attraction of big money. Darwinism adversity is thought too allow the best and brightest minds to emerge at the top. The rest are set away. MIT approach does seem very darwinistic and often student complain about having "no hope". MIT presents a Godless face too the pursuit of scientific excellence. Is intelligence excellence an individualistic aspiration. Is the isolation necessary? 2
MIT students rise through the ranks, earn prestige, gain teaching opportunities, interact with other students throught "student breaks", get a fat pay check, and make breakthroughs by work in research opportunities 3. MIT has one hand in Industry, another hand in Space, and both hands in Government 4. MIT phds are sought after for employment in think tanks, research and development, and industry consulting. MIT students are constantly preparing and being tested. Examination means working fast, understanding the problem, and know what you want from the school. 5 MIT students can program and run advanced stimulation software to solve pressing problems; fabricated circuitry; mill, lathe, and drill machine part; they designed revolutionary designs yield lower costs, reasonable safety, and maximum performance; they were capable of solving tough problems: cogeneration, nuclear energy, fusion containment, and fuel efficiency; engineer contributions designed to improve the community and not acquire money. 6. Most MIT find a niche in the system. The students develop their own sub culture within MIT; they congregate as special interest intelligentsia groups sharing a common purpose, similar interest, and possession unique skills for the group; they find willing to mentorship too preach them the doctrines and teachings they desire; they focus on topics in which they are both strong intellectually at grasping and comfortable in expanding; and avoid coursework that is perilous and prone to failure. These subcultures are very selective about who gets in. The group protects their unique entity because external admittance could destroy the group dynamics; a new person is risky because he could disrupt the interests, flow, and direction of the group; the group's research and ideas may become a source of wealth for the University. MIT longs for the opportunity to partnership with these emerging groups and profit from their technologies and inventions.
MITs value is bring smart people together; give them reasons to learn; encourage them to become creative, focused, and energized; recognize their leadership and skills; and MIT wants too maintain long term relationship with these students, as they become the next generation of brains that form the world.
Pepper says MIT students are often isolated, lonely, depressed, a over worked. He talks about a student name Steve, who is brillant but disrupted about the school and neither religious clergy nor professional psych analysis can help the kid. Twice, Pepper intervenes with Campus Police think the kid had commit suicide. The teachers talk openly about kids that have killed themselves and try to help. One possible reason for the pressure is that professors are desparate too get research money. Getting research grants means they need good workers, so they are pruning for the bests, and these takes its tole on students confidence. When Mary commits suicide, the full impact of the self confidence problems hit you in the gut. It will make you cry.
The book becomes interesting as Pepper talks about his Engineer Thesis, 720 project contest, competing in the perpetual motion machine contest. The PMM made me think about how the wheel was truing. I figure that it was pulse electromagnetic and the timing mechanism was in the box. However, I did not think about the capicator storing up and releasing a pulse. I found the experience described by Pepper challenging, insightful, and aspiring. I like the idea that companies are interested in solutions that MIT students offer. I like the idea that students are toughen to meet real world challenges and problems. This is where the fun begins, once the fear is gone. How can a student hate MIT, if MIT is the reason for their opportunties?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Accurate and humorous, a good read!
Comment: Read this book if you want to know what it is like to live and breathe and be at MIT. Being at MIT is an honor, and a privilege that I take seriously...and a pain. Pay close attention to Pepper's underlying message...MIT is a place of beautiful torture and torturous beauty...a place students hate, but alumni miss dearly.
A warning to readers...don't let his experience define yours. While I am currently going through much of what Pepper has described, I must give my fellow reviewers that his (or my) experience can be atypical. Last year, for eg, I breezed through and couldn't identify with most of Pepper's experiences. Most MIT student experiences lie between these extremes.
The bottom line...accurately painted with a great sense of humor.
This is a personal story of the educational process at one of the world's great technological universities. Pepper White entered MIT in 1981 and received his master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1984. His account of his experiences, written in diary form, offers insight into graduate school life in general—including the loneliness and even desperation that can result from the intense pressure to succeed—and the purposes of engineering education in particular. The first professor White met at MIT told him that it did not really matter what he learned there, but that MIT would teach him how to think. This, then, is the story of how one student learned how to think. There have of course been changes at MIT since 1984, but its essence is still the same. White has added a new preface and concluding chapter to this edition to bring the story of his continuing education up to date.
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