The Institute Letter, Spring/Summer 2026

After thirty-five years of studying Isaac Newton, Govind Menon, Erik Ellentuck Fellow (2025–26) in the School of Mathematics, found himself "unlearning" the famous physicist's work. Alongside Akshay Venkatesh, Robert and Luisa Fernholz Professor in the School, he co-led an unusual seminar that invited scholars to encounter historical mathematicians as "kindred spirits," revitalizing the humanistic roots of their discipline.

Three pivotal books found in the stacks of the Institute’s Mathematics - Natural Sciences Library, the oldest dating from the 1990s and the newest encapsulating the latest pioneering research from IAS Faculty, trace the fascinating intellectual trajectory of computer "vision" and its relationship to pure mathematics.

Long viewed simply as instruments of war, urban fortifications were actually vital laboratories of Italian Renaissance creativity. In a new book titled Form and Fortification, Morgan Ng, Member (2023–24) in the School of Historical Studies, reveals how military architecture—from ramparts to citadels—intertwined defense with beauty and reshaped the city itself.

In 2002, Subhash Khot, Member (2003–04) in the School of Mathematics, proposed the Unique Games Conjecture (UGC), one of the most hotly debated questions in theoretical computer science. Subsequently, Khot; Irit Dveer Dinur, Betsey Lombard Overdeck Theory of Computing Professor; and two other IAS-affiliated collaborators offered a proof that comprises the most significant advance toward resolving it.

Andy Mummery, John N. Bahcall Fellow (2025–30) in the School of Natural Sciences, might have had the talent for professional cricket, but fortunately for the field of astrophysics, he didn’t quite have the attention span. During his IAS Membership, he is applying his "wandering curiosity" to understanding tidal disruption events, all while preparing for an impending explosion of new data.

Pablo J. Boczkowski, Member (2023–24) in the School of Social Science, took part in the School’s theme year, “PLATFORM.” Speaking with The Institute Letter, he shares his perspective on the enduring experiences and relationships formed during his time at the Institute and carried back to his home institution.

In a book titled Paranoid Publics: Psychopolitics of Truth, Zahid R. Chaudhary, Member (2023–24) in the School of Social Science, brings psychoanalysis to bear on modern culture’s fraught relationship to truth. Chaudhary argues that unconscious mental forces like our fears and memories might also inform attitudes about truth, and that the unconscious plays a role in political-economic processes.

From state-sponsored excavations in Tunisia to debates over Neolithic discoveries in central France, early archaeology was defined by a tension between scientific rigor and public spectacle. Sensations: French Archaeology between Science and Spectacle, 1890–1940, a book by Daniel J. Sherman, Member (1993–94; 2016) in the School of Historical Studies, unearths the long-running historical controversies that forged the discipline as we understand it today.

Inspired by her years of ballet training, Whitney Laemmli, Member (2021–22) in the School of Historical Studies, spent her time at IAS investigating the strange legacy of transcribing human motion. The resulting book, Making Movement Modern, reveals how a 1920s dance notation system fundamentally reshaped our view of the body from a vessel of expression into a technology to be analyzed, optimized, and controlled.