
Stock up on holiday gifts with this 20% discount + free shipping* on our most popular books!
We've curated a gift guide with something for everyone on your list, from gorgeously illustrated coffee table art and science books to brisk reads that will fill your head, while fitting in your back pocket.
Use code MITPHoliday21 on orders of MIT Press books placed at penguinrandomhouse.com to buy everything on our list at 20% off with free shipping in the US.
For science geeks who want to see our universe in new ways
“Gem-like. . . . Explores this humble, essential, astonishing liquid through multiple facets—from history to physics to space exploration—and allows every one of them to shine with real fascination.”—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Poison Squad
“Scintillating. . . . A paean to chemical beauty in nature and laboratories, with lavish images."—Nature
"With atomic clarity, science writer Philip Ball narrates this visual tour through the under-appreciated chemical beauty that surrounds us..."—WIRED
"This book is a valuable contribution to popular science, providing a kaleidoscope of visuals that will appeal to readers across generational divides."—Science
“Into the Anthropocosmos provides an insightful and comprehensive yet easy-to-understand summary of the complex science required to establish an interplanetary species. A compelling and informative read.”—Scott Kelly, retired NASA astronaut; author of Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery
"Sumptuous, detailed. . . . tackles issues of error and bias head-on."—New Scientist
Also available by Katy Börner
"You'll never look at a bubble, a spider's web, or a wineglass in quite the same way again. Utterly fascinating!"—Ian Stewart, author of The Beauty of Numbers in Nature
"How do you discuss big, hair-hurting ideas in a user friendly way? Make a graphic novel about them. . . . [An] original, creative and magical science book."—Ira Flatow, Science Friday
A subscription is a gift that lasts all year

Leonardo
The leading international peer-reviewed journal on the use of contemporary science and technology in the arts and music and the application and influence of the arts and humanities on science and technology.
Perspectives on Science
Publishes science studies that integrates historical, philosophical, and sociological perspectives.
Your invitation to The Curie Society awaits...
An action-adventure YA graphic novel, The Curie Society follows a team of young recruits in an elite secret society made up of the most brilliant female scientists in the world. The heroines use their smarts, gumption, and cutting-edge technology to protect the world from rogue scientists with nefarious plans. Simone, Taj, and Maya must decipher secret codes, clone extinct animals, and develop autonomous robots, if their high-stakes mission is going to succeed.
"The characterization is deft and snappy, and the visual storytelling efficient and dynamic with an expressive color palette and varied panel layout... A STEM treat for the curious."—Kirkus Reviews
"Budding scientists and fans of exciting graphic novels are in for a rollicking journey that stresses that women in STEM truly are better together."—School Library Journal
"Recommended for anyone with young people in their life who are keen to explore science."—Starburst
For creatives who seek beauty and truth in the world
"Contemporary artists from all disciplines (Khalil Joseph, Deana Lawson, Dawoud Bey) reveal the shifting role of the viewer, from onlooker to participant — engaged, even implicated in the pain and wonder of Black life."—New York Times Book Review
232 pp. | 6 in x 8 in
78 color illus. | 33 b&w illus.
Is there more to Banksy than paintings on the wall?
With this generously illustrated book, artist and critic Carol Diehl is the first author to probe the depths of the Banksy mystery. The perfect gift for a year in which multiple major Banksy exhibitions took place around the world.
216 pp. | 7 in x 9 in
75 color illus.
"This is a personable, erudite memoir that ambles through a series of theoretical and historical musings linked to the author's emotional, intellectual and practical engagement with New York City."—Art Review
256 pp. | 5.5 in x 8.875 in
22 b&w illus.
"Chametzky's is a welcome call to question racialized definitions of 'Germanness' and, ultimately, to redefine our surprisingly stagnant understanding of what constitutes German art today."—Lynette Roth, Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard Art Museums
360 pp. | 7 in x 9 in
108 color illus., 17 b&w illus.
"A history-in-images of the most intimate experiences of womanhood, collecting objects relied upon over decades: from the BabyBjörn to at-home pregnancy tests to birth control methods."—New York Times Book Review
344 pp. | 7 in x 10 in
125 color illus.
Cadava’s writing examines the spectacular explosion of images during the last twenty years as a prompt to discuss not simply specific images but the role and place of these images in our everyday life.
512 pp. | 5.91 in x 9.06 in
88 color illus.
"The winner of a host of prizes, this delicately laid-out book advises students how to approach a number of design principles. Including advice on everything from 'how to draw a line' to 'how to sketch a one-point perspective of a rectangular interior space' this is a must-have for anyone starting out in the field."—The Independent
212 pp. | 7 in x 5 in101 b&w illus.
A subscription is a gift that lasts all year

African Arts
Presents original research and critical discourse on traditional, contemporary, and popular African arts and expressive cultures.
Design Issues
The first American academic journal to examine design history, theory, and criticism, Design Issues provokes inquiry into the cultural and intellectual issues surrounding design.
For sci-fi readers who love discovering something new
The latest collection in the Twelve Tomorrows series features outstanding hard science fiction stories and contributions from luminaries in the field like Madeline Ashby, Indrapramit Das, Cory Doctorow, Adrian Hon, Rich Larson, Ken Liu, Malka Older, Hannu Rajaniemi, Wade Roush, Karl Schroeder, D. A. Xiaolin Spires, Ytasha Womack.
After a brief overview of the genre's origins, science fiction authority Sherryl Vint considers how and why contemporary science fiction is changing.
New English translations of classic Stanislaw Lem stories and novels
"More than half a century ago, Stanislaw Lem gazed into the future and saw, rather than rockets or ray guns, the evolution of the synthetic mind and the humans creating it. Thanks to these translations, English-language readers can share in his vision—long after he first imagined the internet and its thinking machines."—The Wall Street Journal
For music lovers who dance to their own beat
From the tango to the polka to the watusi, this is how Americans learned to dance in the 1950s and 1960s. The authors show how dance records are expressions of midcentury culture, identity, fantasy, and desire. Featuring glorious, full-color record cover art (more than 200!), this book is a delightful treat for record collectors and fans of mid-century modern design.
552 pp. | 8 in x 10 in
292 color photos
A nostalgic and beautifully illustrated look at how WBCN in Boston became the hub of the rock-and-roll, antiwar, psychedelic solar system.
"As a budding broadcaster at powerhouse WBZ-AM in the early 1970s I fell for WBCN and told my boss, who said: 'FM? It'll never last.' He was right in that there will never be another WBCN."—Robin Young, host of Here and Now (NPR)
304 pp. | 10 in x 11 in
329 figures
Guitar Talk offers interviews with many of the most creative guitarists of our time. This new book presents these conversations, between Joel Harrison and Nels Cline, Pat Metheny, Fred Frith, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, Elliott Sharp, Michael Gregory Jackson, Ben Monder, Anthony Pirog, Henry Kaiser, Mike and Leni Stern, Vernon Reid, Mary Halvorson, Nguyên Le, Rez Abbasi, Ava Mendoza, Liberty Ellman, Brandon Ross, Wayne Krantz, Dave Fiuczynski, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Miles Okazaki, Sheryl Bailey, Rafiq Bhatia, and Ralph Towner—twenty-seven great guitarists in all.
"A startling work. Sound and rhythm are fundamental mysteries of the universe, and this book connects the dots. . . . How can we understand the power of music and why it sends a chill up our spine? As a lover of sound and the science of sound, Nina Kraus makes the case that the world is sound."—Mickey Hart, musicologist and drummer for the Grateful Dead
A subscription is a gift that lasts all year

PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art
Innovative work in theatre, performance art, dance, video, writing, technology, sound, and music, brings together all live arts in thoughtful cultural dialogue.
Computer Music Journal
The leading publication about computer music, concentrating fully on digital sound technology and all musical applications of computers.
For changemakers who want to make the world a better place
"This remarkable exploration into women leaders—and why there aren't more of them—is an indispensable guide to addressing sexism and overcoming inequities."—Ms.
"McIntyre offers tools and techniques for communicating the truth and values of science."—New Scientist
Vera Rubin (1928–2016) helped convince the scientific community of the possibility of dark matter. In Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter, and Beyond, Ashley Jean Yeager tells the story of Rubin's life and work, recounting her persistence despite early dismissals of her work and widespread sexism in science.
A subscription is a gift that lasts all year

Global Environmental Politics
Global Environmental Politics examines relationships between global political forces and environmental change, with particular attention given to the implications of local-global interactions for environmental management
Daedalus
Drawing on the nation’s most prominent thinkers in the arts, sciences, humanities, and social sciences, as well as the professions and public life, Dædalus, Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, explores the frontiers of knowledge and issues of public importance.
The Alchemy of Us
In the bestselling tradition of Stuff Matters and The Disappearing Spoon: The Alchemy of Us by Ainissa Ramirez is a clever and engaging look at materials, the innovations they made possible, and how these technologies changed us.
- Winner of the 2021 AAAS/Subaru SBF Prize in the Young Adult Science Book Category
- Best Summer Science Books of 2020 by Science Friday
- Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best Science Books of 2020
- Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in Science and Technology
For eclectic readers who feed their passions with new ideas
Mariska Van Sprundle shows the science behind popularly held beliefs about shoes, injuries, nutrition, "runner’s high," and more.
"Like the pixels that power the imagery all around us, A Biography of the Pixel is a dazzling game of connect-the-dot."—Fast Company
A subscription is a gift that lasts all year

October
At the forefront of art criticism and theory, October focuses critical attention on the contemporary arts—film, painting, music, media, photography, performance, sculpture, and literature—and their various contexts of interpretation.
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Features substantive articles, research notes, review essays, and book reviews that combine the study of history, spanning all geographical areas and periods, with other scholarly disciplines.
Use code MITPHoliday21 on orders of MIT Press books placed at penguinrandomhouse.com to buy everything on our list at 20% off with free shipping in the US.
* Offer valid while supplies last. Limit one discount code per person. Valid for one transaction. Discount code is not redeemable for cash, is non-transferable and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or discount. Valid on http://penguinrandomhouse.com. US mailing address required. Expires 1/1/2022.