Chapter 7: Metallurgy and Materials Science: 1962-1972 

Background 

At the outset of the 1960s, general conditions favored research and development. The launching of an earth satellite by the Soviet Union in October 1957 had dramatized the role of science and technology in international competition, particularly in aerospace. At the same time, the materials needs of other technologies were becoming widely recognized. A list originally drawn up by the President's science Advisory Committee (PSAC) in 1958 and mentioned by Baker (Psaras and Langford, p. 23) named rocket propulsion, nuclear reactors, space flight, and vehicle reentry as requiring materials not available at that time. 

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By the 1960s, materials science and engineering was an accepted concept. The terms "materials science and engineering" and "materials" were used in the literature and appeared in the titles of books and journals, and in the names of academic departments and other organizations.

Wiki MarkupMaterials science and engineering evolved as the result of several converging the result of several converging developments. The most significant were \significant were (i) broad intellectual trends in the materials-related basic sciences and the materials disciplines, (ii) scientific and technical innovations, and (iii) organizational changes in industry, universities, and government. A more detailed discussion of these developments and of the characteristics of materials science and engineering can be found in the Introduction to the "Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering" (Bever, pp. xi-xiv). Various aspects of materials science and engineering are covered in the literature (Roy, Committee on the Survey of Materials Science and Engineering \ [COSMAT\], Cohen, National Commission on Materials Policy-see Bibliography).  

Scientific and technical innovations in the 1940s were of great importance in the evolution of materials science and engineering. The atomic energy project stimulated work on a broad range of materials problems: it required the production of new materials and the investigation of their properties, focused attention on the critical role of materials processing, and stimulated research on newly discovered phenomena such as radiation darnage. The development of the gas turbine and jet engine intensified interest in high-temperature materials. The transistor led to solid state electronics and the development of other electronic materials and devices. 

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When the Department was separated from Mining Engineering in 1937 it was called "Department of Metallurgy." It appears from the records that for the next 20 years there was no interest in changing the Department's name, which, in fact, seemed to cover most of the activities in the Department with the exception of Ceramics. When a change was considered desirable, it came about because of two main developments: a widening interest in nonmetallic materials, especially semiconductors, and a growing acceptance of materials science and engineering. 

Wiki MarkupIn a memorandum dated January 11, 1967 to the Engineering Council, Professor T. B. King, head of the Department, summarized the history of the attempts to change the name of the Department: "As long ago as 1961, we proposed to the Visiting Committee that the name of the Department be changed to 'Metallurgy and Materials Science.' While the Visiting Committee was then in complete agreement, it was felt that the relationship of materials science to the broader area of materials or materials engineering ought to be clarified and the interests of other departments in the field clearly established before proceeding with such a change." Professor King's 1967 memorandum also stated:  "Many of the questions which were raised in 1961 ... were concerned with the possibility that our Department might seem to pre-empt the field of materials at MIT ... there is little danger of that today \ [i.e., 1966-67\] because of the growth of strong groups in materials in other departments." King concluded: "We may have lost the opportunity to pioneer in this process of change, but we cannot afford to fall behind those who have followed our advice and not our example."  

Wiki MarkupKing's memorandum argued that "a change in the name is necessary for the health of the Department ... \ [and\] that 'materials science' is indeed a name generally accepted as descriptive of the activities in which the Department presently engages." He stressed the importance of making students aware that "the curriculum is much broader than the name of the Department implies" and showed that the curriculum which had been introduced the year before \ [i.e., in 1966\], in fact, bore the title "Metallurgy and Materials Science" and that all but one of the required departmental subjects were broader than "metallurgy" in the traditional meaning.  

King also showed that "an increasing fraction of the students who apply for admission specify their area of interest as materials science." He pointed out that in the ceramics group "more than a third of those presently in residence," in the electronics group "a substantial majority," and in the physics of solids group "essentially all the students would prefer their advanced degree to be in materials science rather than metallurgy." 

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Developments at MIT during the same period also moved toward a center for materials science. Interdisciplinary centers were nothing new at the Institute: the Research Laboratory for Electronics, the Laboratory for Nuclear Science, and the Center for International Studies were already in existence. In the Department of Metallurgy, Professors Chipman, Cohen, and Grant were actively exploring the establishment of a center for materials research. An interdepartmental committee of faculty members, under the chairmanship of Professor John Slater of the Department of Physics, worked on plans for a center and the proposal for such a center was included in the campaign of the Second Century Fund. The drive for a materials center was consistent with the emergence of materials science and engineering. 

Wiki MarkupThe Institute began to explore with the Department of Defense the way in which MIT could "contribute its maximum potential \ [to the\] proposed program:' MIT concluded that it would be most effective to "establish a materials center which would make it possible to bring together the various disciplines of \[the\] faculty interested in materials research." It was recognized that the center could not "house all ... current programs in materials research and simultaneously provide for the necessary expense." MIT, therefore, proposed "to bring the core of existing programs into the new center in such a way as to achieve the maximum interaction of disciplines." that it would be most effective to "establish a materials center which would make it possible to bring together the various disciplines of [the] faculty interested in materials research." It was recognized that the center could not "house all ... current programs in materials research and simultaneously provide for the necessary expense." MIT, therefore, proposed "to bring the core of existing programs into the new center in such a way as to achieve the maximum interaction of disciplines." 

The Institute administration stressed that materials research, including theoretical work, had been carried out in a large number of departments in several of MIT's Schools. In the proposals, the Department's activities were extensively cited. It was pointed out that of a total of 99 MIT faculty members active in materials research in ten departments, 24 were in the Department of Metallurgy and that the Department had approximately 51 materials-related government contracts out of a total of 108 contracts for the Institute as a whole. 

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