In Memoriam: Claude Brenner
Thursday, October 4, 2018
He had a fascinating history too wide interests, every bit indicated inwards this summary from the Council for the Arts at MIT:
Born inwards South Africa, Claude Brenner arrived inwards New York alongside his solid unit of measurement for a two-year remain 10 days earlier Hitler invaded Poland. Atlantic crossings beingness unwise, the 2 years ultimately became nine. Brenner matriculated at MIT in June of 1944 at 15, receiving an SB inwards 1947 too an SM inwards 1948 inwards aeronautical engineering. He went abode to South Africa too thence on to United Kingdom of Great Britain too Northern Ireland of Britain too Northern Republic of Ireland to a task alongside de Havilland Aircraft Company inwards Britain. Returning to this country, he embarked on a career that spanned aircraft blueprint too performance, nuclear warfare, defense forcefulness electronics, Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation systems, renewable energy, too at the terminate a multifariousness of other fields every bit a consultant.
Brenner is non retired. He is betwixt engagements.
Claude loved MIT too contributed to its life inwards many ways.
As an undergraduate, Brenner sang inwards the Glee Club too acted inwards Dramashop, was editor-in-chief of The Tech, too a fellow member of pupil government. He was elected president of his degree too subsequently president of the Alumni Association. He served a term on the Corporation too continues every bit a fellow member of 2 visiting committees. He sang barbershop Pb alongside the founding Logarhythms.
He was also active inwards Jewish matters on campus every bit the MIT Hillel Board Chairman too a founding fellow member of MIT Hillel Foundation.
As chair of the MIT Museum's collections committee, he in i lawsuit invited people to contribute to a novel project. But delight no slide rules (!), every bit he wrote inwards 2009:
Objects. Those are what matter. Sherry Turkle, Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science too Technology, has determined that immature people who lead a career inwards scientific discipline or engineering were offset motivated past times an object inwards their childhood. For me it was a trio of South African Airways Junkers Trimotors sitting on the tarmac at Johannesburg's Germiston (now Oliver R. Tambo) Airport inwards 1937 on a sun afternoon outing alongside my woman nurture too sis when I was viii years old. The wonder of those machines sparked a passion for model airplanes too a decision to move an aeronautical engineer, an ambition fulfilled at MIT 10 years later.
And objects are what affair to the MIT Museum. When the Corporation established the museum 38 years agone every bit the MIT Historical Collections, it was fondly referred to every bit the Attic of MIT. Generations of students rushed to donate a multifariousness of objects, generally that most iconic of all MIT artifacts, their slide rules. The slide dominion somehow defined us. We had them engraved alongside our names. We carried them from degree to degree inwards their cases dangling from our belts. We fifty-fifty glorified them inwards our rousing thank you lot to inspire our teams to greater effort. You must recollect "e to the x du dx, e to the x dx! Secant! Cosine! Tangent! Sine! 3.14159! Square source integral udv, slipstick, slide rule, MIT!" Many a squad was spurred to victory past times those words.
Deborah Douglas, the museum's curator of scientific discipline too technology, is using this anniversary exhibition to experiment alongside roughly of the newest ideas inwards curatorial practice. She is inviting alumni-together alongside the larger MIT community-to assistance do this exhibition past times nominating objects, commenting on objects, too sharing stories. In fourth dimension this digital repository volition acquire similar OpenCourseWare, a boundless resources for those who desire to acquire virtually too engage alongside MIT. Now the museum volition bring a agency of collecting numerous stories too connecting direct alongside you; too you, inwards turn, volition connect alongside others.
So mean value on it. Perhaps that inspirational object from your happy days at the Institute? Or something from your profession? But please, no slide rules, unless it's actually unusual, if non unique. In add-on to robots, send models, instruments, devices, hacks, too the world's largest collection of holography, the museum also holds i of the world's largest collections of slide rules.