The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series

The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers accessible, concise, beautifully produced books on topics of current interest. Written by leading thinkers, the books in this series deliver expert overviews of subjects that range from the cultural and the historical to the scientific and the technical. In today's era of instant information gratification, we have ready access to opinions, rationalizations, and superficial descriptions. Much harder to come by is the foundational knowledge that informs a principled understanding of the world. Essential Knowledge books fill that need. Synthesizing specialized subject matter for nonspecialists and engaging critical topics through fundamentals, each of these compact volumes offers readers a point of access to complex ideas.

Showing results 1-50 of 71

Filter Results OPEN +

Sort by: Per page: ‹12 ›

The Future

by Nick Montfort

ISBN: 9780262534819

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: December 8, 2017

How the future has been imagined and made, through the work of writers, artists, inventors, and designers.

Critical Thinking

by Jonathan Haber

ISBN: 9780262538282

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 7, 2020

How the concept of critical thinking emerged, how it has been defined, and how critical thinking skills can be taught.

Plastics

by Imari Walker-Franklin and Jenna Jambeck

ISBN: 9780262547017

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 22, 2023

A comprehensive introduction to the plastics life cycle—the impacts on our lives, our future, and our planet—and the actions we can take.

Hunting

A Cultural History

by Jan E. Dizard and Mary Zeiss Stange

ISBN: 9780262543293

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: October 4, 2022

The history of hunting, from Stone Age hunter-gatherers to today's sport hunters.

Content

by Kate Eichhorn

ISBN: 9780262543286

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: May 10, 2022

A concise introduction to content and the content industry, from the early internet to the Instagram egg.

Machine Learning, revised and updated edition

Machine Learning

by Ethem Alpaydın

ISBN: 9780262542524

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 17, 2021

A concise overview of machine learning—computer programs that learn from data—the basis of such applications as voice recognition and driverless cars.

Macroeconomics

by Felipe Larraín B.

ISBN: 9780262538572

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

An accessible introduction to the basics of macroeconomics and how it affects the local and global economies.

fMRI

by Peter A. Bandettini

ISBN: 9780262538039

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 25, 2020

An accessible introduction to the history, fundamental concepts, challenges, and controversies of the fMRI by one of the pioneers in the field.

Collaborative Society

by Dariusz Jemielniak and Aleksandra Przegalinska

ISBN: 9780262537919

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 18, 2020

How networked technology enables the emergence of a new collaborative society.

GPS

by Paul E. Ceruzzi

ISBN: 9780262535953

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: November 6, 2018

A concise history of GPS, from its military origins to its commercial applications and ubiquity in everyday life.

School Choice

by David R. Garcia

ISBN: 9780262535908

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 18, 2018

An accessible guide to the major issues and arguments surrounding school choice.

Haptics

by Lynette Jones

ISBN: 9780262535809

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 4, 2018

An accessible, nontechnical overview of active touch sensing, from sensory receptors in the skin to tactile surfaces on flat screen displays.

Machine Translation

by Thierry Poibeau

ISBN: 9780262534215

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 15, 2017

A concise, nontechnical overview of the development of machine translation, including the different approaches, evaluation issues, and major players in the industry.

Paradox

by Margaret Cuonzo

ISBN: 9780262525497

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 14, 2014

An introduction to paradoxes showing that they are more than mere puzzles but can prompt new ways of thinking.

Cloud Computing, revised and updated edition

Cloud Computing

by Nayan B. Ruparelia

ISBN: 9780262546478

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 1, 2023

An updated, revised, and comprehensive overview of the concepts related to cloud computing, including recent applications, innovations, and its future evolution.

Analog

by Robert Hassan

ISBN: 9780262544498

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: January 3, 2023

Why, surrounded by screens and smart devices, we feel a deep connection to the analog—vinyl records, fountain pens, Kodak film, and other nondigital tools.

Happiness

by Tim Lomas

ISBN: 9780262544207

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: January 3, 2023

A concise and engaging exploration of how we understand happiness.

Placebos

by Kathryn T Hall

ISBN: 9780262544252

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: October 4, 2022

The biological power of the placebo effect.

Whiteness

by Martin Lund

ISBN: 9780262544191

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: October 4, 2022

The socially constructed phenomenon of whiteness: how it was created, how it changes, and how it protects and privileges people who are perceived as white.

Robot Ethics

by Mark Coeckelbergh

ISBN: 9780262544092

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 6, 2022

A guide to the ethical questions that arise from our use of industrial robots, robot companions, self-driving cars, and other robotic devices

Neurolinguistics

by Giosuè Baggio

ISBN: 9780262543262

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: May 10, 2022

An accessible introduction to the study of language in the brain, covering language processing, language acquisition, literacy, and language disorders.

Echo

by Amit Pinchevski

ISBN: 9780262543408

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: May 10, 2022

An exploration of echo not as simple repetition but as an agent of creative possibilities.

Supernova

by Or Graur

ISBN: 9780262543149

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 8, 2022

A concise introduction to the history and physics of supernovae, the brilliant explosions of stars; with striking color illustrations.

Nuclear Weapons

by Mark Wolverton

ISBN: 9780262543316

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 1, 2022

A primer on nuclear weapons, from the science of fission and fusion to the pursuit of mutual assured destruction, the SALT treaties, and the Bomb in pop culture.

Cybersecurity

by Duane C. Wilson

ISBN: 9780262542548

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 14, 2021

An accessible guide to cybersecurity for the everyday user, covering cryptography and public key infrastructure, malware, blockchain, and other topics.

Biofabrication

by Ritu Raman

ISBN: 9780262542968

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 14, 2021

How engineered materials and machines powered by living biological cells can tackle technological challenges in medicine, agriculture, and global security.

Death and Dying

by Nicole Piemonte and Shawn Abreu

ISBN: 9780262542425

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 7, 2021

An examination of the contemporary medicalization of death and dying that calls us to acknowledge death's existential and emotional realities.

AI Assistants

by Roberto Pieraccini

ISBN: 9780262542555

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 7, 2021

An accessible explanation of the technologies that enable such popular voice-interactive applications as Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant.

Deconstruction

by David J. Gunkel

ISBN: 9780262542470

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 7, 2021

An accessible introduction to a concept often considered impossibly abstruse, demonstrating its power as a conceptual tool in the twenty-first century.

Gender(s)

by Kathryn Bond Stockton

ISBN: 9780262542609

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 31, 2021

Why gender is strange, even when it's played straight, and how race and money are two of its most dramatic ingredients.

The Internet of Things, revised and updated edition

The Internet of Things

by Samuel Greengard

ISBN: 9780262542623

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 24, 2021

A guided tour of the rapidly evolving networked world of connected devices, objects, and people that is changing the way we live and work.

Annotation

by Remi H. Kalir and Antero Garcia

ISBN: 9780262539920

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 6, 2021

An introduction to annotation as a genre—a synthesis of reading, thinking, writing, and communication—and its significance in scholarship and everyday life.

Hate Speech

by Caitlin Ring Carlson

ISBN: 9780262539906

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 6, 2021

An investigation of hate speech: legal approaches, current controversies, and suggestions for limiting its spread.

Science Fiction

by Sherryl Vint

ISBN: 9780262539999

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 16, 2021

How science fiction has been a tool for understanding and living through rapid technological change.

Ketamine

by Bita Moghaddam

ISBN: 9780262542241

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 16, 2021

The emergence of ketamine—previously known as a combat anesthetic and club drug—as a treatment for depression.

Recommendation Engines

by Michael Schrage

ISBN: 9780262539074

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 1, 2020

How companies like Amazon and Netflix know what “you might also like”: the history, technology, business, and social impact of online recommendation engines.

Behavioral Insights

by Michael Hallsworth and Elspeth Kirkman

ISBN: 9780262539401

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: September 1, 2020

The definitive introduction to the behavioral insights approach, which applies evidence about human behavior to practical problems.

Algorithms

by Panos Louridas

ISBN: 9780262539029

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 18, 2020

An accessible introduction to algorithms, explaining not just what they are but how they work, with examples from a wide range of application areas.

Visual Culture

by Alexis L. Boylan

ISBN: 9780262539364

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 11, 2020

How to think about what it means to look and see: a guide for navigating the complexities of visual culture.

Phenomenology

by Chad Engelland

ISBN: 9780262539319

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: August 4, 2020

A concise and accessible introduction to phenomenology, which investigates the experience of experience.

Anticorruption

by Robert I. Rotberg

ISBN: 9780262538831

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: July 21, 2020

Winning the anticorruption battle: a guide for citizens and politicians.

Cynicism

by Ansgar Allen

ISBN: 9780262537889

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 14, 2020

A short history of cynicism, from the fearless speech of the ancient Greeks to the jaded negativity of the present.

Contraception

A Concise History

by Donna J. Drucker

ISBN: 9780262538428

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 7, 2020

The development, manufacturing, and use of contraceptive methods from the late nineteenth century to the present, viewed from the perspective of reproductive justice.

Extraterrestrials

by Wade Roush

ISBN: 9780262538435

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 7, 2020

Are we alone in the universe? If not, where is everybody? An engaging exploration of one of the most important unsolved problems in science.

AI Ethics

by Mark Coeckelbergh

ISBN: 9780262538190

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 7, 2020

An accessible synthesis of ethical issues raised by artificial intelligence that moves beyond hype and nightmare scenarios to address concrete questions.

Spatial Computing

by Shashi Shekhar and Pamela Vold

ISBN: 9780262538046

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 18, 2020

An accessible guide to the ideas and technologies underlying such applications as GPS, Google Maps, Pokémon Go, ride-sharing, driverless cars, and drone surveillance.

Smart Cities

by Germaine Halegoua

ISBN: 9780262538053

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 18, 2020

Key concepts, definitions, examples, and historical contexts for understanding smart cities, along with discussions of both drawbacks and benefits of this approach to urban problems.