Editing MIT Technology Review (section)

===Original magazine: 1899–1998===
''Technology Review'' was founded in 1899 under the name ''The Technology Review'' and relaunched in 1998 without "The" in its original name. It currently claims to be "the oldest technology magazine in the world."<ref name="oldest">However, ''[[Scientific American]]'' has been published continuously since 1845, and ''[[Popular Science]]'' since 1872. In the personal communication cited above, Pontin says that the claim rests on the definition of a magazine as being [[perfect bound]], ''Scientific American'' being in newspaper tabloid format in 1899.</ref>

In 1899, ''[[The New York Times]]'' commented:<ref name="nyt1899">''The New York Times'', January 21, 1899, page BR33.</ref>

<blockquote>We give a cordial welcome to No. 1 of Vol. I of The Technology Review, a Quarterly Magazine Relating to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published in Boston, and under charge of the Association of Class Secretaries. As far as make-up goes, cover, paper, typography and illustrations are in keeping with the strong characteristics of the Institution it represents. This magazine, as its editors announce, is intended to be "a clearing house of information and thought," and, as far as the Institute of Technology is concerned, "to increase its power, to minimize its waste, to insure [sic] among its countless friends the most perfect co-operation."</blockquote>

The career path of [[James Rhyne Killian]] illustrates the close ties between ''Technology Review'' and the Institute. In 1926, Killian graduated from college and got his first job as assistant managing editor of ''Technology Review;'' he rose to editor-in-chief; became executive assistant to then-president [[Karl Taylor Compton]] in 1939; vice-president of MIT in 1945; and succeeded Compton as president in 1949.

The May 4, 1929, issue contained an article by Dr. [[Norbert Wiener]], then Assistant Professor of Mathematics, describing some deficiencies in a paper [[Albert Einstein]] had published earlier that year. Wiener also commented on a cardinal's critique of the Einstein theory saying:

<blockquote>The pretended incomprehensibility of the Einstein theory has been used as capital by professional anti-Einsteinians. Without prejudice to the cause of religion, I may remark that theological discussions have not at all times been distinguished by their character of lucidity.</blockquote>

The historical ''Technology Review'' often published articles that were controversial, or critical of certain technologies. A 1980 issue contained an article by [[Jerome Wiesner]] attacking the Reagan administration's [[Strategic Defense Initiative|nuclear defense strategy]]. The cover of a 1983 issue stated, "Even if the fusion program produces a reactor, no one will want it," and contained an article by [[Lawrence M. Lidsky]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.askmar.com/Robert%20Bussard/The%20Trouble%20With%20Fusion.pdf|title=The Trouble with Fusion|first=Lawrence M.|last=Lidsky|magazine=MIT Technology Review|date=October 1983|pages=32–44|access-date=2015-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175417/http://www.askmar.com/Robert%20Bussard/The%20Trouble%20With%20Fusion.pdf|archive-date=2015-09-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> associate director of MIT's [[MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center|Plasma Fusion Center]], challenging the feasibility of fusion power (which at the time was often fancied to be just around the corner). The May 1984 issue contained an exposé about microchip manufacturing hazards.

In 1966, the magazine started using a puzzle column started in ''[[Tech Engineering News]]'' a few months earlier. Its author is [[Allan Gottlieb]], who has now written the column for more than fifty years.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Amanda Schaffer |title=Puzzle Corner's Keeper |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/543891/puzzle-corners-keeper/ |website=MIT Technology Review |access-date=February 7, 2022 |language=en |date=December 22, 2015 |quote=Allan Gottlieb ’67 has been serving up math challenges to alumni and friends for half a century.}}</ref>

As late as 1967, the ''New York Times'' described ''Technology Review'' as a "scientific journal." Of its writing style, writer [[George V. Higgins]] complained:

<blockquote>''Technology Review'', according to [then-editor] Stephen{{sic}} Marcus... [subjects] its scientific contributors to rewrite rigors that would give fainting spells to the most obstreperous cub reporter. Marcus believes this produces readable prose on arcane subjects. I don't agree.<ref name="higginsglobe1982">''The Boston Globe'', July 17, 1982. <!--Library database shows page # as "????"--></ref></blockquote>

In 1984, ''Technology Review'' printed an article about a Russian scientist using ova from frozen mammoths to create a mammoth-elephant hybrid called a "mammontelephas".<ref name="mammontelephas">{{cite web |title=Retrobreeding the Woolly Mammoth |url=http://www.textfiles.com/humor/woolly_m.amm |website=textfiles.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041210220920/http://www.textfiles.com/humor/woolly_m.amm |archive-date=December 10, 2004}}</ref> Apart from being dated "April 1, 1984", there were no obvious giveaways in the story. The ''Chicago Tribune'' News Service picked it up as a real news item, and it was printed as fact in hundreds of newspapers.

In 1994, a survey of "opinion leaders" ranked ''Technology Review''<ref name="targettedat"/> No. 1 in the nation in the "most credible" category.<ref name="credible">{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1995/tech-review-0201.html|title=Technology Review rated 'most credible'|author=Charles H. Ball, News Office|date=1 February 1995|work=MIT News|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref>

Contributors to the magazine also included [[Thomas A. Edison]], [[Winston Churchill]], and [[Tim Berners-Lee]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/1998/04/13/story4.html?t=printable | first=Rex | last=Crum | date=April 13, 1998 | title=MIT's 'TR' undergoes revamping|publisher=Bizjournals.com|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref>