Millikans School: A History of the California Institute of Technology

In November 1891, wealthy former abolitionist and Chicago politician Amos Throop founded a thoroughly undistinguished small college in Pasadena, California, which he named after himself. Millikan's School is the history of this institution that stands today at the pinnacle of world academics, with 300 full-time faculty, nearly 1,000 undergraduate, 1,250 graduate students and 39 Caltech and alumni Nobel Prize recipients.

Although Amos Throop — the name of the college was changed to Caltech in...