Thank Samuel Prescott (and your grandma) for that linguini with clam sauce. Prescott (Class of 1894) an MIT biology professor and, later, dean of science helped the William Underwood Company solve the problem of swelling and exploding can of clams. Prescott developed tables of the precise time and temperature required to kill bacteria for clams and many other canned foods, making canned food safer and advancing the field of food technology.