Campus & Community

Three to read: Summer recommendations from Yale faculty

In this summer series, Yale faculty from across the university recommend at least three works to dip into during the summer months — whether a beach read, a perennial favorite, or an important new book in their area of expertise.

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Collage of book covers
Book covers: Careless People, The English Understand Wool, The Glass Universe

Summer recommendations from astrophysicist Meg Urry

Yale’s Meg Urry has spent her career investigating the mysteries of the universe, and her summer reading includes a book that profiles some of the women who shaped the field of astronomy — and offers historical context for August’s total solar eclipse.
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Book covers: Buddenbrooks, Of Boys and Men, Dad Brain

Summer recommendations from anthropologist Eduardo Fernandez-Duque

Yale anthropologist Eduardo Fernandez-Duque conducts research that bridges the fields of evolutionary anthropology, psychology, and primatology — and his summer reading includes examinations of modern manhood that shed light on his own studies of primate families.
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Book covers: I, Medusa; From Mistakes to Meaning; The Best Minds

Summer recommendations from bioengineer Anjelica Gonzalez

Throughout her career, Yale bioengineer and inventor Anjelica Gonzalez has learned that success “requires a great level of risk, failure, and resilience” — a lesson also imparted by one of her picks for summer reading, along with reimaginings of Greek mythology and stories that reflect the depth of college friendships.
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Book coveres: The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse; An Imperfect Blessing; Celestial Bodies

Summer recommendations from literary scholar Shawkat Toorawa

A scholar and translator of classical and medieval Arabic literature, Yale’s Shawkat Toorawa’s area of inquiry also includes modern poetry and science fiction film and literature — a range of interests reflected in his capacious list of summer reading recommendations.
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Book covers: Life after Life; Neuromancer; Crisis in Freedom: The Alien and Sedition Acts

Summer recommendations from political scientist Gregory Huber

Gregory Huber’s research examines the interaction of individuals and institutions in American politics. This summer, the Yale political scientist recommends a mid-20th-century book about America’s founders, along with two works of fiction: a novel of second chances and a classic that anticipated the virtual world.
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Three book covers: More, Everything, Forever; The Odyssey; How Data Happened

Summer recommendations from data scientist Johan Ugander

Artificial intelligence and data analysis are top of mind for Yale data scientist Johan Ugander, who studies social networks and individual behavior through innovative statistical and algorithmic methods — but this summer, he’s also made time for the ancient Greeks.
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Book covers: Poetry November 1943; Inside the Box; Poetry July 1985

Summer recommendations from poet Christian Wiman

Poet and educator Christian Wiman concedes that he’s not much of a “beach reader,” but summer does bring the opportunity to revel in poetry, new and old.
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Book covers: The Exceptions; The Tapestry of Fate; The Ministry of the Future

Summer recommendations from psychiatry researcher Kristen Brennand

Yale psychiatry researcher Kristen Brennand has spent her career in labs, examining the genetic foundations of disease, and is co-director of the Yale Science Fellows Program, a Yale School of Medicine (YSM) initiative aimed at recruiting, supporting, and promoting outstanding young scientists.
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Book covers: Sociobiology; Flowers for Algernon; An Immense World

Summer recommendations from neuroscientist Steve Chang

In his research, Yale neuroscientist Steve W.C. Chang explores the neural circuit mechanisms of social cognition and social decision-making — and understanding how animals think is a common thread among the books he recommends.
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Campus & Community