Summer is the perfect time to curl up with a good book - and MIT authors have had much to offer in the past year. The following titles represent a selection of books published in the past 12 months by MIT faculty and staff.
Looking for more literary works from the MIT community? Enjoy our book lists from 2025 , 2024 , 2023 , 2022 , and 2021 .
Happy reading!
Fiction and poetry
" We (the People of the United States) " (Penguin Books, 2026)
By Joshua Bennett, the Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT and professor of literature
Bennett marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. with a book-length work of poetry about the country and some of its distinctive figures. The piece features remarkable people or inventions from each of the 50 states, meditating on their place in the nation's cultural fabric.
" The Race for Daphne " (Finishing Line Press, 2026)
By Sarah C. Beckmann, communications and marketing associate in the MIT Media Lab
A poetry collection structured as a crew race exploring girlhood, womanhood, and motherhood through the experiences of a rower and writer. These poems subvert the historical dominance of male heroes by celebrating ordinary female heroism, while examining love, home, and what it means to be an American woman today.
" Jezelle: Thief of Forks " (Self-published, 2026)
By Scott Austin Tirrell, director of administration and finance in the Art, Technology, and Culture Program
Abandoned by her father and raised by the streets of Grafton Notch, Jezelle survives by trusting no one. When a strange magic awakens within her, it offers more than escape - it offers power. But in a city that preys on broken children, power makes her valuable, dangerous, and hunted. To claim the life stolen from her, Jezelle must decide what she is willing to become.
Science and Engineering
" Phenomenal Moments: Revealing the Hidden Science Around Us " (Candlewick Press, 2025)
By Felice Frankel, research scientist in the Department of Chemical Engineering
Enlisting readers to "be the scientist" through vivid fine-art photographs, science photographer Felice Frankel zooms in and out on beautiful and brilliant moments all around us to reveal the chemical, natural, or physical processes - from viscosity and venation to chlorophyll and capillary action - behind scientific phenomena.
" Syntax: A Cognitive Approach " (MIT Press, 2025)
By Edward A. F. Gibson, professor of brain and cognitive sciences
This book lays out the grammar of a language from the perspective of a cognitive scientist, outlining the components of language structure and the model of syntax that Gibson advocates: dependency grammar, in which a word is connected to another word via a dependency arc to form a larger compositional meaning. This formalism can explain numerous aspects of word order universals across languages.
" Birds Up Close: An Engineer Explores Their Hidden Wonders " (MIT Press, 2026)
By Lorna J. Gibson, professor post-tenure in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
A renowned engineer and lifelong birder, Gibson explores the hidden microscopic structures and engineering principles that keep birds aloft and alive - how an egg forms, how a bird generates lift, how woodpeckers safely drill their holes, and much more. She also considers the longer view of birds in their habitats and natural history. Her up-close look at avian mysteries provides a perspective like no other, for the expert ornithologist and curious observer alike.
" Carbon Renewal " (MIT Press, 2025)
By Howard J. Herzog, senior research engineer at the MIT Energy Initiative, and Niall Mac Dowell
In "Carbon Renewal," Herzog and MacDowell discuss how technology and policy can come together to help us reach "net-zero" climate targets. The authors explore the rapidly evolving world of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), presenting the technological pathways of enhancing the land sink, biomass-based carbon capture and storage, engineered removal methods, and ocean-based carbon removal. They also discuss barriers facing CDR as well as ethical implications of this process.
" Climate Change, Drinking Water Security, and Public Health: Global Challenges and Solutions " (Springer Nature, 2026)
Chapters by Libby Hsu, associate director of academics at MIT D-Lab
In her chapter, "Drinking Water Status Around the World and Its Effect on Health," Hsu discusses the Earth's water resources, which are found in a variety of settings. In her chapter, "Waterless and Low-Water Sanitation Technologies that Improve Quality of Life and Conserve Water Resources," she shares her experience with sanitation challenges in the Global South and how that has reinforced the value of waterless and low-water sanitation technologies that are suitable for scaling around the world.
" A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters, and Cynics Who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines " (Penguin Random House, 2026)
By Thomas Levenson, professor of science writing in MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing
In his latest book, Levenson searches for the origins of the most common arguments against vaccines: that they are unnatural; that they are more dangerous than the illnesses they claim to prevent; and that they are an affront to freedom. "A Pox on Fools" explores the human impulse to question and wonder - sometimes past the point at which the very act of questioning turns deadly.
" The Shape of Wonder: How Scientists Think, Work, and Live " (Penguin Random House, 2025)
By Alan Lightman, professor of the practice of the humanities in MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing, and Martin Rees
Lightman and Rees pull back the curtain on the field of science, revealing that scientists are driven by the same sense of curiosity, wonder, and responsibility toward a future that shapes us all. They guide us through the fascinating lives and minds of scientists around the world and throughout time, and provide an inside peek at what makes scientists tick - their daily lives, passions, and concerns about the societies they live in.
" Uncertainty in Climate Change Research: An Integrated Approach " (Springer Nature, 2025)
Chapter by Jennifer Morris, principal research scientist at the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy and the MIT Energy Initiative, and John Reilly, senior lecturer in the MIT Sloan School of Management
Understanding future emissions scenarios is essential for preparing for climate change. The chapter "Emissions and Concentration Scenarios" examines how socioeconomic uncertainty contributes to overall climate change projections, and identifies key drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. It reviews the history of emissions scenarios and compares various approaches, including IPCC methods and formal uncertainty analysis techniques. The chapter concludes with lessons learned from over 40 years of socioeconomic scenario development for climate research.
" The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction - and a Search for Relief " (Harper Collins, 2025)
By Tom Zeller Jr., managing editor of Undark, published by the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT
From blinding migraines to severe headache disorders known as "clusters," chronic head pain affects 40 percent of the population, many of them suffering in silence. Finally, "The Headache" reveals the science behind a group of disorders that is as much a curse as a cultural punchline, and leads to key insights into the nature of pain itself. Guided by his own decades-long struggle with cluster headaches, Zeller's journey into headache science is at once intimate and panoramic.
Culture, humanities, and social sciences
" The People Can Fly: American Promise, Black Prodigies, and the Greatest Miracle of All Time " (Little, Brown, and Company, 2026)
By Joshua Bennett, the Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT and professor of literature
In this work, Bennett offers a series of profiles, carefully wrought to see how some prominent figures were able to flourish from childhood forward. He closely reads their works for indications about how they understood the shape of their own lives. In so doing, Bennett underscores the significance of the social settings that prodigious talents grow up in. He also offers reflections on his own career trajectory and encounters with these artists, driving home their influence and meaning.
" Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy " (Yale University Press, 2025)
By Francis J. Gavin, research affiliate of the MIT Security Studies Program
It seems obvious that we should use history to improve policy. If we have a good understanding of the past, it should enable better decisions in the present, especially in the highly consequential worlds of statecraft and strategy. But how do we gain that knowledge? How should history be used? In this book, Gavin explains the many ways historical knowledge can help us understand and navigate the complex, often confusing world around us.
" The Economic Consequences of the Second Trump Administration: A Preliminary Assessment " (Centre for Economic Policy Research, 2025)
Edited by Gary Gensler, professor of the practice of global economics and management and finance in the MIT Sloan School of Management; Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship and professor of global economics and management at MIT Sloan; Ugo Panizza; and Beatrice Weder di Mauro
How might the economic and geopolitical positions of the Trump administration affect growth, trade, investment, inflation, stability, and the role of the U.S. dollar? This volume offers evidence-based, expert analysis to help decision makers understand the impact of tariffs, breaks in global alliances, government downsizing, deregulation, threats to the rule of law, and more.
" The Colony and the Company: Haiti after the Mississippi Bubble " (Princeton University Press, 2025)
By Malick W. Ghachem, professor of history
Many things account for Haiti's modern troubles. A good perspective on them comes from going back in time to 1715 or so - and grappling with a far-flung narrative involving the French monarchy, a financial speculator named John Law, and a stock-market crash called the "Mississippi Bubble." In "The Colony and the Company," Ghachem examines the economic transformations and multi-sided power struggles of that time.
" Retrench, Defend, Compete: Securing America's Future Against a Rising China " (Cornell University Press, 2025)
By Charles L. Glaser, senior fellow in the MIT Security Studies Program
Many believe China's ascent will drive it to war with the United States. Yet this is far from inevitable; geography and nuclear weapons should ensure U.S. security. The real danger, Glaser contends, lies in East Asia's territorial disputes, especially over Taiwan. To reduce the risk of war, Glaser makes a bold case for ending U.S. security commitments to Taiwan and carefully calibrating its policies on protecting South China Sea maritime features.
" Trade in War: Economic Cooperation Across Enemy Lines " (Cornell University Press, 2025)
By Mariya Grinberg, associate professor of political science and MIT Security Studies Program affiliate
"Trade in War" is an urgent, insightful study of a puzzling wartime phenomenon: states doing business with their enemies. To explain why states trade with their enemies, Grinberg examines the wartime commercial policies of major powers during the Crimean War, the two World Wars, and several post-1989 wars.
" Constructing Economic Nationalisms in Brazil and India " (Cambridge University Press, 2026)
By Jason Jackson, associate professor in political economy and urban planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Conventional approaches cite India's leftist "socialism" and Brazil's right-wing authoritarianism to explain why India resisted foreign direct investment (FDI) while Brazil welcomed foreign firms. However, this ignores puzzling industry-level variation: India restricted FDI in auto manufacturing but allowed multinationals in oil, while Brazil welcomed foreign auto companies but prohibited FDI in oil. This book argues that FDI policies were shaped by contrasting colonial experiences that generated distinct economic nationalisms and patterns of industrialization in both countries.
" Traders, Speculators, and Captains of Industry: How Capitalist Legitimacy Shaped Foreign Investment Policy in India " (Harvard University Press, 2025)
By Jason Jackson, associate professor in political economy and urban planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Is foreign capital an agent of economic growth in developing countries or a vehicle of extraction? Examining how Indian elites wrestled with this question in the late colonial and postcolonial periods, Jackson argues that it reflects a false binary. Instead of simply choosing between domestic and foreign capital, Indian policymakers have long considered the business ethics of individual firms. Indian economic nationalism, in other words, has never been characterized by a straightforward preference for domestic over foreign capital.
" The Handbook of Social Protection: Evidence and New Directions for Low- and Middle-Income Countries " (MIT Press, 2026)
Edited by Benjamin A. Olken, the TEPCO Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics, and Rema Hanna
Over the past several decades, social protection programs that provide financial assistance to the poor and insure against shocks for the vulnerable have become widespread in low- and middle-income countries. These programs can play a critical role in society. This book provides an overview of what we know about the differing aspects of social protection and highlights the open questions for research for the future.
" Argumentation: The Key Concepts " (Routledge, 2026)
By Edward Schiappa, the John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities in MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing
In this book, Schiappa delves into the identification and analysis of fallacies, the evaluation of evidence, and the crucial roles of context, audience adaptation, and argumentative style. It explores the ethical dimensions of argument, the impact of cognitive bias, and the influence of cultural and discourse communities.
" American Independence in verse " (Pentameter Press, 2025)
By Brad Skow, the Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
"American Independence in verse," published by Pentameter Press, traces a story of America's origins through a collection of vignettes featuring some well-known characters, like politician and orator Patrick Henry, alongside some lesser-known but no less important ones, like royalist and former chief justice of North Carolina Martin Howard. Each is rendered in blank verse, a nursery-style rhyme, or free verse.
" Rwanda's Genocide Heritage: Between Justice and Sovereignty " (Duke University Press, 2025)
By Delia Wendel, associate professor of urban studies and international development in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Drawing from oral histories and a visual archive of memory work after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Wendel explores the human rights and government priorities that preserved killing sites and victims' remains for public display. Rwanda's genocide memorials exemplify a global phenomenon that Wendel terms "trauma heritage," wherein hidden or unrecognized violence is made visible in public space to demand justice and recognition. Wendel argues that trauma heritage innovates on the form histories take by "writing" them into landscapes, constituting a reparative historiography from the Global South.
Technology and society
" Computing in the Age of Decolonization: India's Lost Technological Revolution " (Princeton University Press, 2026)
By Dwaipayan Banerjee, associate professor of science, technology, and society
In this book, Banerjee examines India's pursuit of technological self-sufficiency, and the global forces that prevailed against this vision. He describes why the nation is "the world's leading provider of inexpensive outsourcing and offshoring services, yet enjoys minimal benefits from more profitable advances in research, manufacturing, and development."
" Auditing AI " (MIT Press, 2026)
By Karrie G. Karahalios, professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab; Marc Aidinoff PhD '22; Nathan Matias SM '13, PhD '17; Christian Sandvig; Alondra Nelson; Kristen Vaccaro; Esha Bhandari; Ellery Roberts Biddle; Lena Armstrong; Motahhare Eslami; and Danaé Metaxa
This book serves as a first-of-its-kind roadmap for auditing artificial intelligence systems to prevent decision-making failures in health care, policing, and employment. Using canonical examples of AI gone wrong - from misidentified facial recognition to biased hiring algorithms - this book explains why robust audits are essential and how they drive concrete policy and corporate change.
" Shape Computation: Fifty Years, 1972-2022 " (Springer Nature, 2025)
Edited by Sotirios Kotsopoulos SM '00, PhD '05, a research affiliate in the Department of Architecture, with a chapter by Terry W. Knight, the William and Emma Rogers Professor of Design and Computation in the Department of Architecture
This book provides a panorama of "shape computation" and "shape grammars," a computational theory that has, from its inception 50 years ago, been directed toward the "how" of design. Knight's chapter, "How is that? Computing the Temporality of Drawing," describes how process and time are key to studying, appreciating, designing, and making things. She notes that in creative production it is not only important to ask, "What is that?" but also "How is that?" - in other words, how did or how can a thing come to be? As a process carried out over time, computation offers a means for rethinking, representing, and elevating the "how" in designing and making activities.
" The Remote Revolution: Drones and Modern Statecraft " (Cornell University Press, 2025)
By Erik Lin-Greenberg, associate professor in the Department of Political Science
In "The Remote Revolution," Erik Lin-Greenberg shows that drones are rewriting the rules of international security - but not in ways one would expect. Leveraging diverse types of evidence from original wargames, survey experiments, and cases of U.S. and Israeli drone operations, Lin-Greenberg explores how drone operations lower risks of escalation.
" The Comedy of Computation: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Obsolescence " (Stanford University Press, 2025)
By Benjamin Mangrum, associate professor of literature
We often deal with our doubts and fears about computing through humor, whether reconciling ourselves to machines or critiquing them. In fact, this dynamic turns up throughout modern culture, in movies, television, fiction, and the theater. Mangrum analyzes this phenomenon in "The Comedy of Computation," digging into several facets of modern culture and technology.
" Rubrique Technologie / Tech Section " (Printed Matter, 2026)
By Nick Montfort, professor of digital media in MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing, and Patsy Baudoin
This work is based on a text generator that produces French and English news items that imagine some of the ways technology will impact us in the near future. Most of the generated news involves people getting struck by autonomous vehicles or even aircraft. Others describe labor disputes, hostile takeover attempts, inventions, and the termination of online services. What is imagined in "RT/TS" is not apocalyptic or discontinuous but actually features many of the same problems we face today; the methods of producing the texts are today's as well.
" Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI " (MIT Press, 2025)
By Alex "Sandy" Pentland, the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences and professor of information technology in the MIT Media Lab
How can we build a flourishing society by using human nature to design technology rather than letting technology shape society? Pentland explores how cultural inventions - from civilizations to the Enlightenment - accelerated innovation and collective wisdom. He argues that understanding these key factors in cultural evolution is essential for solving global challenges like climate change and pandemics, and shows how AI and digital media can aid rather than replace human deliberation.
" Priority Technologies: Ensuring US Security and Shared Prosperity " (MIT Press, 2026)
Edited by Elisabeth B. Reynolds, professor of the practice of urban studies and planning, with a foreword by Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship and professor of global economics and management
A new world order is emerging, and within it, U.S. priorities are shifting. For the country to flourish as well as defend and secure its interests, it must build on its decades of experience in developing frontier technologies and globally competitive industries through investments into priority technologies for the 21st century. This volume presents an introduction to some of the key areas where the U.S. must lead in order to ensure both national and economic security: critical minerals, semiconductors, biomanufacturing, quantum computing, drones, and advanced manufacturing.
Education, work, finance, and social impact
" The Meritocracy Paradox: Where Talent Management Strategies Go Wrong and How to Fix Them " (Columbia University Press, 2025)
By Emilio J. Castilla, the NTU Professor of Management and professor of work and organization studies in the MIT Sloan School of Management
Organizations often hail meritocracy as a fair and efficient way to identify, advance, and reward talent. But efforts to create a level playing field can be held back by talent management systems that confer rewards based on individual performance evaluations. In practice, these merit-based systems "may actually reinforce or create advantages for certain groups," Castilla contends.
" The Art of Monetary Policy: Lessons from Sun Tzu for Central Banks " (MIT Press, 2026)
By Kristin J. Forbes, the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and professor of global economics and management in the MIT Sloan School of Management
Central banks are navigating a world of higher debt, tightly interconnected markets, and rising geopolitical tensions. How might they respond effectively? In "The Art of Monetary Policy," Forbes draws on the writings of Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu to suggest modern principles for central banks, including preparing for the next financial battle, establishing a strong tactical position, combining weapons and methods, and modifying and varying tactics to maintain flexibility.
" Launching from the Lab: Building a Deep-Tech Startup " (MIT Press, 2026)
By Lita Nelsen, former director of the MIT Technology Licensing Office, and Maureen Stancik Boyce, mentor for the MIT Sandbox program
"Launching from the Lab" provides a much-needed framework for new entrepreneurs who are founding companies based on "deep technology" - groundbreaking innovations rising from new discoveries in fundamental research. Nelsen and Stancik Boyce cover the steps to launch and fund such companies, beginning with emergence from the laboratory and acquiring intellectual property through the intensive research of customer needs, building a team, and raising capital.
" There's Got to Be a Better Way: How to Deliver Results and Get Rid of the Stuff That Gets in the Way of Real Work " (Hachette, 2025)
By Nelson Repenning, professor of management, and Donald Kieffer
The chaos of everyday business forces people into an exhausting, ineffective, seemingly never-ending cycle of work-arounds, firefighting, and Whac-a-Mole. The irritatingly urgent crowds out the lastingly important. In this book, Repenning and Kieffer describe the game-changing discipline of dynamic work design, which improves productivity, reduces costs, and increases efficiency, ensuring that all parts of a company can work in concert.
" Bayesian Entrepreneurship " (MIT Press, 2026)
Edited by Erin L. Scott, senior lecturer of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management in the MIT Sloan School of Management; and Scott Stern, the David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology and professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management at MIT Sloan
This edited volume introduces and explores the concept of Bayesian entrepreneurship, a novel framework for understanding entrepreneurial decision-making under uncertainty. It brings together contributions from leading scholars to examine how entrepreneurs form beliefs about opportunities, learn through experimentation, and make strategic decisions.
" Disciplined Entrepreneurship for Climate and Energy Ventures: 24 Steps to Build Solutions for People and the Planet " (Wiley, 2025)
By Ben Soltoff, entrepreneur in residence at MIT Sloan; Bill Aulet, Ethernet Inventors Professor of the Practice; Tod Hynes, senior lecturer of climate and energy ventures; Francis O'Sullivan, senior lecturer in technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management; and Libby Wayman, senior lecturer of climate and energy ventures
Climate and energy entrepreneurs face challenges that traditional startup playbooks don't address. Their ventures can require massive capital and take years to reach market, all while striving to achieve a positive impact on people, planet, and profit. This book adapts the MIT-born "Disciplined Entrepreneurship" framework specifically for climate and energy ventures, recognizing that founders in this space need their own approach.
Arts and design, architecture, urban studies and planning
" Tiny Gardens Everywhere: The Past, Present, and Future of the Self-Provisioning City " (W.W. Norton, 2026)
By Kate Brown, the Thomas M. Siebel Distinguished Professor in History of Science
Nurturing health, hope, and community, gardeners in cities and suburbs are reclaiming lost commons, transforming vacant lots into vibrant plots, turning waste into compost, and recreating what was once the most productive agriculture in recorded human history. In a book with global scope, ranging from Estonia to Amsterdam and Washington, Brown contends that urban gardening has many positive spillover effects, from health and environmental benefits to community-building - apart from periods of pushback when others are trying to eliminate it.
" Small-Town Renaissance: Bridging Technology, Heritage, and Planning in Shrinking Italy " (Springer Nature, 2025)
Edited by Brent D. Ryan, vice provost and professor of urban design and public policy in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning; Carmelo Ignaccolo PhD '24; and Giovanna Fossa
This book explores the transformative power of digitization in rural regions - where technology isn't just a tool, but a lifeline for local culture, economic resilience, and future development. Born from a unique research collaboration between the MIT and Politecnico di Milano, this book brings together scholarly work on shrinking towns, economic development, and digital innovation. The project tackled some of the most pressing challenges facing rural Italy - from population decline to economic stagnation - through the lens of digital transformation.
" Blanking: An Annotated Archive of Projects and Thoughts on Architecture " (Park Books / University of Chicago Press, 2026)
By Rosalyn Shieh, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, and Troy Schaum
Based on the work and vision of their architecture firm Schaum/Shieh, this book shares what is said and what can be heard in a studio. So much of architectural thinking and knowledge is presented, formulated, and traded in spoken words: pinups, meetings, walkthroughs. Those exchanges inform this book, in which ideas and knowledge that are usually only spoken are made accessible to readers.
" Design Before Disaster: Japan's Culture of Preparedness " (University of Virginia Press, 2026)
By Miho Mazereeuw, associate professor in the departments of Architecture and Urban Studies and Planning
Few countries have faced as many environmental disasters as Japan, which has endured typhoons, cyclones, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Japanese residents have responded to their precarious circumstances by developing a unique culture of disaster preparedness, equipping the island nation to plan for future emergencies and to greatly reduce their impact. Mazereeuw offers a detailed framework to design and prepare for anticipated disasters and describes effective interventions in urban landscape and architecture.
" Reconstruction as Violence in Assad's Syria " (American University in Cairo Press, 2025)
Edited by Nasser Rabbat, professor of architecture and director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT, and Deen Sharp, with a foreword by Hashim Sarkis, dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning
This book delves into the complex interplay of post-conflict reconstruction in Syria, challenging the traditionally held dichotomy between the end of violence and the commencement of rebuilding. The contributors to this volume - architects, urbanists, geographers, and historians - employ critical concepts such as urbicide, domicide, and "civilian crisis architecture" to argue against the conventional theoretical frameworks that support a neat separation of phases.
