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A lively introduction to MIT hacks, from the police car on the
Great Dome to the abduction of the Caltech cannon. An MIT "hack" is
an ingenious, benign, and anonymous prank or practical joke, often
requiring engineering or scientific expertise and often pulled off
under cover of darkness-instances of campus mischief sometimes
coinciding with April Fool's Day, final exams, or commencement. (It
should not be confused with the sometimes non-benign phenomenon of
computer hacking.) Noteworthy MIT hacks over the years include the
legendary Harvard-Yale Football Game Hack (when a weather balloon
emblazoned "MIT" popped out of the ground near the 50-yard line),
the campus police car found perched on the Great Dome, the apparent
disappearance of the Institute president's office, and a faux
cathedral (complete with stained glass windows, organ, and wedding
ceremony) in a lobby. Hacks are by their nature ephemeral, although
they live on in the memory of both perpetrators and spectators.
Nightwork, drawing on the MIT Museum's unique collection of
hack-related photographs and other materials, describes and
documents the best of MIT's hacks and hacking culture. This
generously illustrated updated edition has added coverage of such
recent hacks as the cross-country abduction of rival Caltech's
cannon (a prank requiring months of planning, intricate
choreography, and last-minute improvisation), a fire truck on the
Dome that marked the fifth anniversary of 9/11, and numerous pokes
at the celebrated Frank Gehry-designed Stata Center, and even a
working solar-powered Red Line subway car on the Great Dome. Hacks
have been said to express the essence of MIT, providing, as alumnus
Andre DeHon observes, "an opportunity to demonstrate creativity and
know-how in mastering the physical world." What better way to mark
the 150th anniversary of MIT's founding than to commemorate its
native ingenuity with this new edition of Nightwork?
Three doctors explore and explain the least recommended techniques
lurking in the darkest corners of medicine through the ages.
Entertaining and informative, (and sometimes just plain gross), 1
Out of 10 Doctors Recommends examines the strangest and most
unusual medical practices, including: drinking your own urine to
fight infection, using live eels to relieve constipation, and
licking a patient's head to diagnose Cystic Fibrosis. As licensed
medical physicians who believe that humour is the best medicine,
the authors decode the methods behind the seemingly mad science in
these lighthearted mini essays. 3 out of 3 authors recommend that
you read it immediately! Kooky, creepy, crazy examples include: Bee
venom to treat herpes, intestinal parasites for allergy meds,
"Natural" ways to make your genitalia larger, Potato to stop
bleeding after delivery, Salt pork for a sore throat, Vampire
Facials.
Short poems 1970-2014 plus longerform poem "Spiral Harbor" and
short story "River of winter".
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