Essential Knowledge

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.

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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.

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.

Pragmatism

by John R. Shook

ISBN: 9780262544610

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

A concise, reader-friendly overview of pragmatism, the most influential school of American philosophical thought.

Causal Inference

by Paul R. Rosenbaum

ISBN: 9780262545198

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: April 4, 2023

A nontechnical guide to the basic ideas of modern causal inference, with illustrations from health, the economy, and public policy.

Fertility Technology

by Donna J. Drucker

ISBN: 9780262544696

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: March 7, 2023

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world.

Espionage

A Concise History

by Kristie Macrakis

ISBN: 9780262545020

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 28, 2023

A concise introduction to the history and methods of espionage, illustrated by spy stories from antiquity to today's high-tech world.

Memory

by Fergus Craik and Larry Jacoby

ISBN: 9780262545204

Publisher: The MIT Press

Pub Date: February 14, 2023

A short, accessible primer on human memory, its workings, feats, and flaws, by two leading psychological researchers.

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.