| Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 7 reviews)
Sales Rank: 318527
Category: Book
Author: Institute Historian T. F. Peterson
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Label: The MIT Press
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 190
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 8 x 0.6
ISBN: 0262661373
Dewey Decimal Number: 378.7444
EAN: 9780262661379
ASIN: 0262661373
Publication Date: March 14, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Before the term hacking became associated with computers, MIT undergraduates used it to describe any activity that took their minds off studying, suggested an unusual solution to a technical problem, or generally fostered nondestructive mischief. The MIT hacking culture has given us such treasures as police cars and cows on the Great Dome, a disappearing door to the President's office, and the commencement game of "Al Gore Buzzword Bingo." Hacks can be technical, physical, virtual, or verbal. Often the underlying motivation is to conquer the inaccessible and make possible the improbable. Hacks can express dissatisfaction with local culture or with administrative decisions, but mostly they are remarkably good-spirited. They are also by definition ephemeral. Fortunately, the MIT Museum has amassed a unique collection of hack-related pictures, reports, and remnants. Nightwork collects the best materials from this collection, to entertain innocent bystanders and inspire new generations of practitioners.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Nice, but doesn't live up to its predecessors July 10, 2008
This is an entertaining book full of pictures of MIT hacks and anecdotes and essays on hacking. However, much of the material is reprinted from the more lengthy and generally superior previous two books on MIT's hacking tradition, "Is This the Way to Baker House?" and "The Journal of the Institute for Hacks, Tomfoolery & Pranks at MIT". I bought this book since it includes some more recent hacks than either of those two. Nightwork is worth buying, but if you really want good books on hacking at MIT, find yourself used copies of the other two.
what about all the failed pranks? June 21, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Here is an informal romp through decades of MIT pranks. Reflecting well on the ingenuity and craziness of the undergrads who devoted so much time and sweat to making these happen. Most of the pranks revolve around some high tech gimmick. As you follow the narrative, you might admire the unorthodox nature to which technology has been applied.
The only lack in the book is in anecdotes of failed pranks. These could surely comprise a much larger text.
 ^_^ February 21, 2006
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ok, originally I was trying to buy a book on Asian women in the work force for my Anthropology class. The frist part of the name of this book is the same as the other book so I quickly bought it before I finished reading the rest of the title, so it is all my fault for getting the wrong book. Either way, this book is alot better and more enertaining. Best mistake I ever made ^_^. The book was mailed to my house fast and in great condition.
Great book, but with a caveat. January 31, 2005
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
This is a terrific, fairly comprehensive book of the highlights from MIT's long tradition of pranks. However, if you have already read Journal of the Institute of Hacks, Tomfoolery, and Pranks, you'll find you've read most of this before, and in better detail, with better-reproduced photographs (in my opinion.) The good thing about Nightwork is that this is includes hacks from more recent years than the other book.
For me, the time they spent on the new stuff wasn't nearly enough to justify buying a whole new book, but on its own and to someone who has never read its predecessor, it is an excellent and entertaining history.
And yet, the professor pulls off another Hack ... December 6, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I had a brief opportunity to read this book a while ago. There are plenty of stories about hacks that would make anyone go "why in the name of science these geeks wanted to do that?" And well, you are asking that about people that are pride of being considered geeks. But then again, with this book you will get acquainted with the all-time famous football game between Harvard and Yale where the winner was MIT (??), the 48 unit weight that "cracked" the dome and that the measure of the Harvard bridge is about 364.4 smoots + one ear
And for those of you lucky enough to have established contact with an MIT student/alum, ask them about the secret that lies within the Institute Historian T. F. Peterson and the "hack" that its right there in front of your eyes. Congratulations, you have been hacked.
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