MIT News is featuring recent books published by MIT faculty and staff in its 2026 summer reading list. The following titles from this year’s list are available to borrow now from the MIT Libraries.
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
Science and Engineering
Syntax: A Cognitive Approach
(MIT Press, 2025)
By Edward A. F. Gibson, professor of brain and cognitive sciences
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
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
“Drinking Water Status Around the World and Its Effect on Health”
“Waterless and Low-Water Sanitation Technologies that Improve Quality of Life and Conserve Water Resources”
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
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
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
Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy
(Yale University Press, 2025)
By Francis J. Gavin, research affiliate of the MIT Security Studies Program
The Colony and the Company: Haiti after the Mississippi Bubble
(Princeton University Press, 2025)
By Malick W. Ghachem, professor of history
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
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
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
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
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
Argumentation: The Key Concept
(Routledge, 2026)
By Edward Schiappa, the John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities in MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing
American Independence in verse
(Pentameter Press, 2025)
By Brad Skow, the Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
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
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
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
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
The Remote Revolution: Drones and Modern Statecraft
(Cornell University Press, 2025)
By Erik Lin-Greenberg, associate professor in the Department of Political Science
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
Rubrique Technologie / Tech Section
(Printed Matter, 2026)
By Nick Montfort, professor of digital media in MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing, and Patsy Baudoin
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
