Issue: Winter 1999
COVER STORY: The Right Stuff
William LeMessurier, '53, risked a lawsuit, bankruptcy, and professional disgrace, but he chose to do what he knew was right.
Waking Up
Is it okay to alter your baby's genes before he is born? That's a question raised by MIT's Technology and Culture Forum, a lecture series that examines the moral and ethical implications of science and technology.
Firm Foundation
Ray Stata, '57, says that establishing strong values is the surest way to have a successful life. "When you're honest, responsible, and trustworthy," he says, "your life works better than when you are not."
The Future of Money
The way people shop is already changing as retailers set up electronic stores on the Internet.
The Psychology of Spending
Prof. Drazen Prelec, who studies the psychology of money, says credit cards are insidious because they disconnect the pleasure of buying from the pain of paying.
Understanding Grammar
Prof. Kenneth Wexler, who studies how children learn to communicate, pinpoints a language disorder that afflicts hundreds of thousands of children.
Long-term Memories
Dreams and repetition of experience both create lasting memories, according to Assistant Professor Matthew Wilson, who now probes exactly how the process works.
All That Jazz
Grace Chung, a grad student in computer speech recognition, also is a jazz singer. Jazz singing and engineering may seem unrelated, she says, but actually the two are very much alike.
Life of Harmony
Cherry Emerson, '41, grew up in Atlanta with music on his mind. At 12, he sold Coca-Cola to construction workers to earn money to buy a piano, one he now says he wouldn't trade for a million dollars.
Flashes of Inspiration
Harold "Doc" Edgerton, inventor of high-speed photography, spent a career making the invisible visible.Making the invisible visible
Holographic Images
Prof. Steve Benton of the Media Lab, a pioneer in the field of holography and spatial imaging, invented the hologram seen on millions of credit cards.
Research Briefs
Guiding light, safer drugs, and more
Somebody Has To Do It
So far Mandy Chambers is the only one in the MIT Skydiving Club, but she hopes to get the group off the ground.
