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T.F. Peterson. Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003. 208pp. Cloth $30.35, paper $19.95.
The students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have a long history of pulling engineering pranks on campus. "Hacking" does not refer to computer hacking but to the benign feats of engineering meant to entertain, amuse, and "demonstrate creativity and know-how in mastering the physical world" (p. x), a sentiment repeated throughout the text by both hackers and those who document hacks (the term for the pranks themselves). Hacks are usually amazing feats, such as balancing a police cruiser on top of the MIT dome or suspending a...