The founding of the university in 1867 created a unique community in what had been a prairie. Within a few years, this creative mix of teachers and scholars produced innovations in agriculture, engineering and the arts that challenged old ideas and stimulated dynamic new industries. Projects ranging from the Mosaic web browser to the discovery of Archaea and pioneering triumphs in women's education and wheelchair accessibility have helped shape the university's mission into a double helix of innovation and real-world change. These essays explore the university's celebrated accomplishments and historic legacy, candidly assessing both its successes and its setbacks. Experts and students tell the eye-opening stories of campus legends and overlooked game-changers, of astonishing technical and social invention, of incubators of progress as diverse as the Beckman Institute and Ebertfest. Contributors: James R. Barrett, George O. Batzli, Claire Benjamin, Jeffrey D. Brawn, Jimena Canales, Stephanie A. Dick, Poshek Fu, Marcelo H. Garcia, Lillian Hoddeson, Harry Liebersohn, Claudia Lutz, Kathleen Mapes, Vicki McKinney, Elisa Miller, Robert Michael Morrissey, Bryan E. Norwood, Elizabeth H. Pleck, Leslie J. Reagan, Susan M. Rigdon, David Rosenboom, Katherine Skwarczek, Winton U. Solberg, Carol Spindel, William F. Tracy, and Joy Ann Williamson-Lott.| Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Preface: Changing the World from a Very Small Place Introduction: A University for Learning and Labor Part One. Singular People: Remarkable Individuals Who Triggered Innovation at the University Isabel Bevier: Bringing Science into the Home Arthur Palmer: The Chemistry of Safe Water Austin Harding: Inventor of the School Band Victor E. Shelford: Environmental Pioneer Katharine Sharp: Shattering the Glass Ceiling of Library Leadership Ven Te Chow: Hydrologist, Educator, and Rainmaker Stuart Pratt Sherman: Literary Criticism Comes to the University Ruth Maslow and Oscar Lewis: Giving Voice to the Voiceless Thomas K. Cureton: The Father of Physical Fitness Tim Nugent: "Wheelchair Students" and the Creation of the Most Accessible Campus in the World Renée and Henry Kahane: Exploring Language's History and Structure Alta Gwinn Saunders: The Invention of Business English Shozo Sato: Reinventing Kabuki Theater John Bardeen: Citizen of Science Carl Woese: Discovery of a Third Form of Life Clarence Shelley: The Campaign to Diversify the University Part Two. World-Changing Inventions: Created and Nurtured on the University of Illinois Campus Affordable Higher Education Inventing Professional Architecture The Hillel Foundation: The Invention of University Diversity Clarence W. Alvord: The Illinois Historical Survey and the Invention of Local History Beyond Women's Studies John Laughnan: Sweet Corn Revolution Remarkable Animals: Illini Nellie and Big Al "2 + 2 = green": Innovation in Experimental Music at the University of Illinois The Beginning of Public Broadcasting Joseph McVicker Hunt: Invention of Early Childhood Education Samuel Kirk: Birth of Special Education The Invention of MRI Nick Holonyak Jr.: Development of LED Lights Mosaic: The First Point-and-Click Internet Browser Superfluidity Bottled Sunshine: Discovering and Harnessing the Power of Photosynthesis Interdisciplinary Scholarship at the College of Law Part Three. Places of Innovation: Where Ideas and People Meet to Produce Innovation The Morrow Plots Bringing Innovation to the Farm through the Farmers' Institutes The Story of the University of Illinois Library Improvising an Innovation: Stadium Terrace Housing and the Arrival of "Nontraditional Students" Across the Pacific: The University of Illinois and China The ILLIAC Computers: Product and Source of...