Chapter 1 : The Early Years: 1865-1888
This account of the history of metallurgy and of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be primarily concerned with the hundred-year period since metallurgy was first recognized by MIT as an independent discipline. This account will also provide background on the history of the teaching of metallurgy during an earlier period as well as on the history of the Institute as a whole.
The Launching of MIT
Following a preliminary session in the Spring of 1865, the "School of Industrial Science of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology" opened on October 22, 1865 for its first academic year. The activities of the School were carried on in rented quarters in the Mercantile Building on Summer Street in Boston while the School's first permanent building, later named the Rogers Building, was still under construction on Boylston Street between Berkeley and Clarendon Streets. The School moved into the new building in 1866.
The original faculty consisted of ten professors, three of whom were involved to varying degrees with the fields of mining and metallurgy. About 70 students were registered as first- and second-year students in 1865-66.
Organization
The plans for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology envisaged a Society of Arts and a Museum of Practical Arts, in addition to the School of Industrial Science. The Society of Arts, which held its first meeting on December 17, 1862, was established to promote scientific literacy in the community through public lectures; in its final phase in the 1950s, it presented lectures for young audiences by prominent members of the Institute's faculty. The Museum did not attain a significant separate status until the 1970s although various collections were maintained over the years throughout the Institute. The School of Industrial Science became so predominant that soon it was referred to simply as the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology."
During the years preceding its establishment, the proposed Institute received vital support from academic and industrial leaders and other influential and enlightened citizens in the Boston area. Some of them working informally or through committees became the Institute's governing body, originally referred to as "the Government" and later as "the Corporation."
The Institute's charter rested on the" Act of Incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology" Signed by the Governor of the Commonwealth on April 10, 1861 and modified several times in the next few years. MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, became its first president. A small teaching staff of "Officers of Instruction" was recruited; for a number of years, only senior members constituted "the Faculty."
An Educational Philosophy for MIT
Rogers first set forth his philosophy for the School of Industrial Science in "A Plan for a Polytechnic School in-Boston" (1846). He explained that the subjects to be taught were of two kinds:
(1) the physical laws "having direct relation to the art of constructing machinery, the application of motive power, manufactures, mechanical and chemical, the art of engraving with electrotype and photography, mineral exploration and mining, chemical analysis, engineering, locomotion and agriculture";
and
(2) the "chemical manipulation and the analysis of chemical products, ores, metals and other materials used in the arts ... land] special courses in architecture, engineering and the various branches of the arts" (Rogers, Vol. 2, pp. 420-427; Prescott, pp. 331-336).
The polarity of general physical principles and the specifics of engineering practice emphasized by Rogers is still reflected in MIT's engineering curricula.
Rogers also commented; "The true and only practicable object of a polytechnic school is, as I conceive, the teaching, not of the minute details and manipulations of the arts, which can be done only in the workshop, but the inculcation of those scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of them, and along with this a full and methodical review of all their leading processes and operations in connection with physical laws."
In his "Plan for a Polytechnic School in Boston;' Rogers made detailed observations on the study of materials, metallurgy, mining and the processing of materials. Appendix A presents relevant quotations.
The realization of the "Plan" was delayed by nearly two decades. For a number of years after 1846, Rogers was occupied
with other activities. When he turned his attention to the proposed Massachusetts Institute of Technology toward the end of the 1850s, organizational and funding problems, negotiations with the Commonwealth and the disruptions of the Civil War allowed only slow progress.
During the early 1860s, two documents prepared in support of the Institute, "Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology" (1860) and "Scope and Plan of the School of Industrial Science" (1864) formulated organizational plans and operating policies.
"Scope and Plan of the School of Industrial Science"
The "Scope and Plan," written by Rogers, was adopted by the Government of the Institute in May 1864. The preamble stated that it was the "design of this School to afford to the public at large opportunities of instruction in the leading principles of science, as applied to the arts; and, at the same time, to provide for systematic students of the applied sciences the means of a continuous and thorough training in the studies and practice appertaining to these subjects."
The first section of the document describes the general or "popular" course; the second, the special and professional instruction for students enrolled at the Institute. The latter in their first and second years, regardless of their professional specialization, were to take the same subjects. The descriptions of the courses of Practical Geology and Mining, and Practical and Industrial Chemistry mention subject matter relating to metallurgy. Of greatest interest here is a description of a fourth-year course of Practical Metallurgy, which states: "For students who have passed through the third year's course on Practical Geology and Mining, and who wish to prepare specially for the superintendence of furnace operations, and other branches of Metallurgy, the following course will be provided for the fourth year: 1. Special Geology ... 2. Chemical Analysis ... 3. Lectures on Metallurgy; Review of the more important Metals and their Ores;… Metallurgical Implements, Structures, and Processes; Details of the Smelting and Manufacture of Iron, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Silver, Aluminum, etc. 4. Drawing.. "
The description of laboratories in the "Scope and Plan" includes a "laboratory for mining and metallurgy," which should be "connected with the general laboratory, but forming a distinct department ... designed for special instruction in whatever relates to practical mineralogy, the chemical valuation of ores, and the operations of smelting and other processes for the separation and refining of metals."
Mining and Metallurgy at MIT from 1865 to 1888
During the first years of the Institute, Frank H. Storer, Professor of General and Industrial Chemistry, Charles W. Eliot, Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Metallurgy, and, from 1867 to 1873, Alfred P. Rockwell, Professor of Mining, taught subjects related to mining and metallurgy. James D. Hague, listed as professor of mining in the Annual Catalogues for the academic years 1865-66 through 1867-68, never assumed his duties. In reporting this, Robert H. Richards merely added that "business prevented his coming to Tech" (Richards, p. 99).
Eliot resigned in 1869 to become President of Harvard. He was succeeded at MIT by John M. Ordway, who continued as Professor of Metallurgy and Industrial Chemistry until 1884. Ordway was Chairman of the Faculty from 1878 to 1882. Although very successful as a teacher of chemistry, it is interesting to note that he also gave the lecture course on botany for a number of years.
Robert Hallowell Richards is listed as a second-year student in the Institute's First Annual Report covering the year 1865-66. Upon graduation in Geology and Mining as a member of MIT's first graduating class in 1868, he became an Assistant in General Chemistry for the academic year 1868-69. He was appointed Instructor in Assaying and Qualitative Analysis for Richards's career was closely tied to the development of the Department of Mining Engineering, and later Mining Engineering and Metallurgy, until his retirement in 1914. He was Professor of Mineralogy and Assaying in 1871-72 and 1872-73, and Professor of Mining Engineering and Director of the Mining and Metallurgical Laboratories from 1873-74. In 1884-85, he was named "Professor of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy" and in 1888-89 he became head of the renamed Department of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy. Richards was Secretary of the Faculty from 1877 to 1883 and the first President of the MIT Alumni Association from 1876 to 1878.
Richards's first teaching assignment could have ended his teaching career. In his autobiography he relates his inability to control the class of young students (Richards, p. 60). When he transferred to a laboratory subject, he found great satisfaction in working with more mature students. From then on he developed into a successful, enormously popular teacher through his technical competence, devotion to teaching, and great interest in students.
Another early graduate who joined the teaching staff was Henry M. Howe. After graduating from Harvard College in 1869, he enrolled at MIT and graduated in 1871. Richards mentions Howe with some pride as one of the students in the chemistry class he taught in 1870. The Annual Catalogue for 1884-85 lists Howe as Lecturer in Metallurgy, a position he held for a number of years. (See Chart 1 for faculty data for 1865-1888.)
Curricula
According to the Annual Catalogue for 1865-66, six "courses" were open to regular students in the School of Industrial Science. It should be mentioned here that to this day in MIT's usage, the term "course" stands for "major" and "subject" stands for "lecture course" or "laboratory," as used in other institutions. The original courses were:
- I Mechanical Engineering
- II Civil and Topographical Engineering
- III Practical Chemistry
- IV Geology and Mining
- V Building and Architecture
- VI Science and Literature
Each course required four years for completion. The first two years were devoted mostly to scientific and general subjects. Professional subjects were scheduled for the third and fourth years. There were almost no electives.
The original six courses continued to be offered while new ones were being added. Some changes were made in course titles and numbers. In 1871-72, the course then called "Geology and Mining Engineering" became "Course III." In 1873, Metallurgy was made a separate Course Vl. lt was described as "similar to Chemistry but with more reference to metals:' However, Course VI lost its identity when it was absorbed into Course III in 1884.
Ore Dressing and Metallurgy
In the 1870s and 1880s, metallurgy was taught most intensively in the Mining course. The basic lectures in metallurgy were assigned to the third year: their subject matter was described as "metallurgical processes, construction and implements; furnaces, crucibles, blowing machines, fuels and fluxes:' A more extensive description added" details of the smelting and manufacture of iron, copper, lead, zinc, silver, etc:' "Mining and Metallurgical Laboratory Practice;' a ten_hour-per-week subject, which will be described more fully below, was concerned with the experimental study of the processes of are dressing and smelting. "Assaying" was also taught.
For a number of years, the course "Industrial Chemistry" ("Practical Chemistry") also included metallurgical subjects, in particular, the basic metallurgy lectures. The chemical analysis of ores, slags, and other metallurgical materials was taught in both the Mining and Chemistry courses. Assaying "by fire and wet methods" was included in the Chemistry curriculum.
Laboratory Instruction in Ore Dressing and Metallurgy
In the chapter entitled "The Struggling Seventies" of his autobiography, Richards describes the development of a method of laboratory instruction that was unique at the time. In this laboratory, processes patterned alter industrial operations were conducted with equipment of a manageable size. Richards demanded that the experiments fulfill two functions: they had (i) to illustrate ore dressing or metallurgical principles and (ii) to produce measurable, usually weighable, results. The scale of the operations had to be large enough to meet these requirements but as small as possible in order to save materials, especially ores. Also, the physical labor required had to be limited since the experiments were carried on by the students and teaching staff with minimal technician support (Richards, pp. 69-70).
Richards reports with much candor the trials and errors experienced in developing this method. A dramatic incident-in fact, a near-calamity-occurred when a member of the Class of 1878 used a small blast furnace for his thesis on the smelting of iron ore. The furnace had been routinely used for smelting copper and lead ores. In the student's first run, in which other students participated, one 30-pound ingot of pig iron had been produced when Professor Richards and the students noticed that they were becoming drowsy. Richards concluded that this waS due to carbon monoxide and barely succeeded in removing everyone in time. The high temperature required for iron smelting had allowed some of the furnace atmosphere to escape through the refractory. Following that experience, blast furnace experiments were restricted to the smelting of copper and lead ores, even after a water-jacketed furnace had been installed (Richards, pp. 80-81).
Richards's task of developing laboratory experiments was made easier by assistance from local metallurgical companies.
The Revere Copper Company smelted copper, silver and lead ores in Canton, Massachusetts. A son of the president of that company (and grandson of Paul Revere) had been a classmate of Richards. He took a great interest in Richards's work and provided encouragement and technical support. A smelting company in Newburyport also supported his work. Throughout this period, Richards showed great ingenuity in devising experiments and equipment. He also began to lay the foundation for his later specialization in ore dressing (Dictionary of American Biography, "Robert Hallowell Richards").
Facilities
The Annual Catalogues and President's Reports describe in detail the laboratory space and eqUipment that were gradually acquired for the work in mining and metallurgy. President Runkle's report for 1872 enumerates the types of ore dressing and metallurgical processing equipment then at hand. It included the blast furnace already mentioned (see also Annual Report for 1883-84, p. 48).
Field Trips
The Department sponsored extensive field trips for students. The first of these trips was conducted in the Summer of 1871 in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming under the direction of President Runkle and Professor Richards (Richards, p. 65; 4th Annual Report). In the 5ummer of 1874, an "expedition of Mining students" went to the Lake Superior region under the leadership of Professors Ordway and Richards (President's Report for 1873-74, pp. 33-37). Both mining and metallurgical operations were the points of interest for these study trips, which were continued for many years. The contacts of the Department with Western mines also resulted in the accumulation of "11 tons of gold and silver ores from more than 70 mines in Colorado and Utah" (President's report for 1870-71, p. 25).
Enrollment and Degrees
Six of the 14 graduates in the first graduating class in 1868 received degrees in Geology and Mining. While the absolute number of students in Mining increased in subsequent years, their percentage in the total student body decreased.
The Departmental degree totals by decades are shown in Appendix B.
Summary
This chapter has described the founding of MIT and the activities in mining and metallurgy during the Institute's first quarter century. The achievements of this period were accomplished in spite of many difficulties. The attempts of Harvard under President Eliot to absorb MIT was the most difficult of the political problems that arose. President Rogers's failing health created other problems. Most pervasively, the Institute, in Richards's words, suffered from "uncertainties and privations" (Richards, p. 60). The difficulties were overcome only by the idealism, dedication, and ability of the staff, from President Rogers and President Runkle to the youngest staff members such as Richards.