This roundup presents recent books authored by members of the MIT community and affiliated researchers, spanning topics from technology and science writing to linguistics and regional studies. The list highlights works published in 2024 and 2025 by major academic and trade presses. Each entry notes the author and institutional role when provided and the publisher and year of release when stated.
Notable technology and policy titles include Empire of Artificial Intelligence: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by Karen Hao ’15, published by Penguin Random House in 2025, which appears to examine the company led by Sam Altman. Another technology-focused book is Data, Systems, and Society: Harness Artificial Intelligence for Societal Good by Munther A. Dahleh, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and founding director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, published by Cambridge University Press in 2025. These books foreground governance and application of advanced computing and Artificial Intelligence in social contexts, as indicated by their titles and author roles.
The roundup also includes Play It Again, Sam: Repetition in the Arts by Samuel Jay Keyser, HM ’97, emeritus professor of linguistics, published by MIT Press in 2025; So Very Small: How Humans Discovered the Microcosmos, Defeated Germs — and May Still Lose the War Against Infectious Disease by Thomas Levenson, professor of science writing, published by Penguin Random House in 2025; Perspectives in Antenna Technology: Recent Advances and Systems Applications by Jeffrey S. Herd, group leader of the RF Technology Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, with Alan J. Fenn and M. David Conway, both senior staff in the RF Technology Group, published by MIT Press in 2025; and Misery Beneath the Miracle in East Asia by Arvid J. Lukauskas and Yumiko T. Shimabukuro, PhD ’12, published by Cornell University Press in 2024. Together these titles reflect a range of disciplinary interests within the MIT community, from the humanities and history to engineering and public health.
