MIT News is featuring recent books published by MIT faculty and staff in its 2025 summer reading list. The following titles from this year’s list are available to borrow now from the MIT Libraries. We will add to this list as more titles become available.
Science
“The Miraculous from the Material: Understanding the Wonders of Nature” (Penguin Random House, 2024)
By Alan Lightman, professor of the practice of humanities
“The Analytics Edge in Healthcare” (Dynamic Ideas, 2025)
By Dimitris Bertsimas, vice provost for MIT Open Learning, Boeing Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management, associate dean for business analytics, and professor of operations research; Agni Orfanoudaki, and Holly Wiberg
“Longevity Hubs: Regional Innovation for Global Aging” (MIT Press, 2024)
Edited by Joseph F. Coughlin, senior research scientist and MIT AgeLab director, and Luke Yoquinto, MIT AgeLab research associate
“Data, Systems, and Society: Harnessing AI for Societal Good” (Cambridge University Press, 2025)
By Munther Dahleh, the William A. Coolidge Professor in electrical engineering and computer science and director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS)
“Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation” (MIT Press, 2024)
By Greg Epstein, humanist chaplain
“The New Lunar Society: An Enlightenment Guide to the Next Industrial Revolution” (MIT Press, 2025)
By David Mindell, the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing and professor of aeronautics and astronautics
“Output: An Anthology of Computer-Generated Text, 1953–2023” (MIT Press, 2024)
Edited by Nick Montfort, professor of digital media, and Lillian-Yvonne Bertram
Education, work, and innovation
“Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You” (Routledge, 2025)
By Lotte Bailyn, the T Wilson Professor of management and emerita professor of work and organization studies; Teresa M. Amabile; Marcy Crary; Douglas T. Hall; and Kathy E. Kram
“Accelerating Innovation: Competitive Advantage through Ecosystem Engagement” (MIT Press, 2025)
By Phil Budden, senior lecturer of technological Innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management; and Fiona Murray, associate dean for innovation, the William Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship, and professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management
“Entrepreneurship: Choice and Strategy” (Norton Economics, 2024)
By Erin L. Scott, senior lecturer of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management; Scott Stern, the David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology and professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management; and Joshua Gans
“Failure by Design: The California Energy Crisis and the Limits of Market Planning” (University of Chicago, 2024)
By Georg Rilinger, the Fred Kayne Career Development Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and assistant professor of technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management
Culture, humanities, and social sciences
“Chasing the Pearl-Manuscript Speculation, Shapes, Delight” (University of Chicago Press, 2025)
By Arthur Bahr, professor of literature
“Uprooted: How post-WWII Population Transfers Remade Europe” (Cambridge University Press, 2024)
By Volha Charnysh, the Ford Career Development Associate Professor of political science
“Crime, Insecurity, and Community Policing: Experiments on Building Trust” (Cambridge University Press, 2024)
By Fotini Christia, the Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences; Graeme Blair; and Jeremy M. Weinstein
“Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter” (MIT Press, 2025)
By Jana Dambrogio, the Thomas F. Peterson (1957) Conservator at MIT Libraries, and Daniel Starza Smith
“Long-Term Care around the World” (University of Chicago Press, 2025)
Edited by Jonathan Gruber, the Ford Professor of Economics and head of the Department head of Economics, and Kathleen McGarry
“Play It Again, Sam: Repetition in the Arts” (MIT Press, 2025)
By Samuel Jay Keyser, the Peter de Florez emeritus professor of linguistics
“Spheres of Injustice: The Ethical Promise of Minority Presence” (MIT Press, 2025)
By Bruno Perreau, the Cynthia L. Reed Professor of French Studies
“Attention, Shoppers! American Retail Capitalism and the Origins of the Amazon Economy” (Princeton University Press, 2025)
By Kathleen Thelen, the Ford Professor of Political Science
“Routledge Handbook of Space Policy” (Routledge, 2024)
Chapter by Danielle R. Wood, associate professor in the program in media arts and sciences and associate professor in aeronautics and astronautics
“Victorian Parlour Games: A Modern Host’s Guide to Classic Fun for Everyone” (Chronicle Books, 2024)
By Ned Wolfe, marketing and communications assistant at MIT Libraries
Arts, architecture, planning, and design
“Against Reason: Tony Smith, Sculpture, and Other Modernisms” (MIT Press, 2024)
Chapter by Judith Barry, professor at the Art, Culture, and Technology Program, with Kelli Anderson
“Steina” (MIT Press, 2025)
Edited by Natalie Bell, curator at the MIT List Visual Arts Center
“The Moving Image: A User’s Manual” (MIT Press, 2025)
By Peter B. Kaufman, associate director of development at MIT Open Learning
“Beyond Ruins: Reimagining Modernism” (ArchiTangle, 2024)
Edited by Raafat Majzoub SM ’17, visiting lecturer at the Art, Culture, and Technology Program; and Nicolas Fayad
“The Equitably Resilient City: Solidarities and Struggles in the Face of Climate Crisis” (MIT Press, 2024)
By Lawrence J. Vale, the Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning and associate dean of the MIT School of Architecture and Planning; and Zachary B. Lamb
For young readers
“A Century for Caroline” (Denene Millner Books / Simon and Schuster, 2025)
By Kaija Langley, director of development at MIT Libraries, and illustrated by TeMika Grooms
