California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. The institute's research facilities, principally in science and engineering, include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (operated in conjunction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the Palomar Observatory, the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, and a cosmic ray laboratory. With the Univ. of California at Berkeley and the Univ. of Hawaii, it operates the W. M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, which houses the world's largest reflecting telescopes.

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California Institute of Technology

 known as Caltech

U.S.-based, highly select, private university and research institute in Pasadena. Established in 1891, it offers graduate and undergraduate instruction and research in pure and applied science and engineering. It is considered one of the world's premier scientific research centres. In 1958 its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in conjunction with NASA, launched Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite. Caltech operates astronomical observatories at such locations as Palomar Mountain, Owens Valley, and Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Other facilities include a seismology laboratory, a marine biology laboratory, and a centre for the study of radio astronomy.