MIT Press

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MIT Press
MIT Press logo (black).svg
Parent companyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Founded1932; 87 years ago (1932)
FounderJames R. Killian, Jr.
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationCambridge, Massachusetts
DistributionTriLiteral (United States)
John Wiley & Sons (international)[1]
Publication typesBooks, Academic journals
Official websitemitpress.mit.edu
Display of publications at conference booth in 2008

The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States).

History[edit]

The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT published under its own name a lecture series entitled Problems of Atomic Dynamics given by the visiting German physicist and later Nobel Prize winner, Max Born. Six years later, MIT's publishing operations were first formally instituted by the creation of an imprint called Technology Press in 1932. This imprint was founded by James R. Killian, Jr., at the time editor of MIT's alumni magazine and later to become MIT president. Technology Press published eight titles independently, then in 1937 entered into an arrangement with John Wiley & Sons in which Wiley took over marketing and editorial responsibilities. In 1962 the association with Wiley came to an end after a further 125 titles had been published. The press acquired its modern name after this separation, and has since functioned as an independent publishing house.[2]

A European marketing office was opened in 1969, and a Journals division was added in 1972. In the late 1970s, responding to changing economic conditions, the publisher narrowed the focus of their catalog to a few key areas, initially architecture, computer science and artificial intelligence, economics, and cognitive science. Other areas, such as technology and design, have been added since. A recent addition is environmental science.[2]

In January 2010 the MIT Press published its 9000th title,[2] and published about 200 books and 30 journals. In 2012 the Press celebrated its 50th anniversary, including publishing a commemorative booklet on paper and online.[3]

The press co-founded the distributor TriLiteral LLC with Yale University Press and Harvard University Press. TriLiteral was acquired by LSC Communications in 2018.[4]

Business[edit]

MIT Press primarily publishes academic titles in the fields of Art and Architecture; Visual and Cultural Studies; Cognitive Science; Philosophy; Linguistics; Computer Science; Economics; Finance and Business; Environmental Science; Political Science; Life Sciences; Neuroscience; New Media; and Science, Technology, and Society.[5]

The MIT Press is a distributor for such publishers as Zone Books[6] and Semiotext(e). In 2000, the MIT Press created CogNet, an online resource for the study of the brain and the cognitive sciences.[7] The MIT Press co-owns the distributor TriLiteral LLC with Harvard University Press and Yale University Press.[8]

In 1981 the MIT Press published its first book under the Bradford Books imprint, Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology by Daniel C. Dennett.

Retail outlet[edit]

The MIT Press also operates the MIT Press Bookstore[9] showcasing both its front and backlist titles, along with a large selection of complementary works from other academic and trade publishers. The retail storefront was formerly located next to a subway entrance to Kendall/MIT station in the heart of Kendall Square, but has been temporarily moved to 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a short distance north of the MIT Museum near Central Square. Once extensive construction around its former location is completed, the Bookstore is planned to be returned to a site adjacent to the subway entrance.

The Bookstore offers customized selections from the MIT Press at many conferences and symposia in the Boston area, and sponsors occasional lectures and book signings at MIT.[citation needed]

The Bookstore is also known for its periodic "Warehouse Sales" offering deep discounts on surplus, damaged, and returned books and journals from its own catalog, as well as remaindered books from other publishers.

[edit]

MIT Press logo.svg

The Press uses a colophon or logo designed by its longtime design director, Muriel Cooper, in 1962.[10] The design is based on a highly-abstracted version of the lower-case letters "mitp", with the ascender of the "t" at the fifth stripe and the descender of the "p" at the sixth stripe the only differentiation.[11] It later served as an important reference point for the 2015 redesign of the MIT Media Lab logo by Pentagram.[10]

List of journals published by the MIT Press[edit]

The Arts and Humanities

Economics

International Affairs, History, and Political Science

Science and Technology

Notable Books[edit]

  • Dimensionism: Modern Art in the Age of Einstein, 2018 [15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "How to Order". mit.edu.
  2. ^ a b c "History | The MIT Press". Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  3. ^ "50 Years of Influential Books and Journal Articles | The MIT Press".
  4. ^ "LSC Buys TriLiteral; Turner Purchases Gürze Books". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  5. ^ "MIT Press Catalogs".
  6. ^ "Zone Books". Zone Books. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  7. ^ "CogNet FAQ". Archived from the original on 2012-05-21.
  8. ^ "TriLiteral LLC • Book Distribution and Fulfillment Services". TriLiteral.
  9. ^ "The MIT Press Bookstore".
  10. ^ a b Stinson, Liz. "MIT Media Lab Gets a Transforming Logo, Courtesy of Pentagram".
  11. ^ http://www.aiga.org/medalist-murielcooper/ |AIGA profile of Muriel Cooper
  12. ^ "MIT Press Journals". MIT Press Journals. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  13. ^ "MIT Press Journals". MIT Press Journals. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  14. ^ "MIT Press Journals". MIT Press Journals. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  15. ^ "Reviewed by Cindy Helms in New York Journal of Books". 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2018-12-11.

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 42°21′43.7″N 71°5′8.0″W / 42.362139°N 71.085556°W / 42.362139; -71.085556