Politics and Science

A History of Astronomy- A history of astronomy throughout culture and the West. I took two semesters of Astronomy in undergrad, but this book was enlightening anyway. My Body, by Emily Ratajowski- A memoir of Ratajowski’s life through the modeling and influencer. How capitalism commodifies the human body, and in particular, beauty in women is incredibly disappointing but not surprising. Ratajowski says that initially she finds her sexuality and desirability empowering, but to whose advantage is it that she feels that way? Modeling and the commodification of women’s beauty divides women into “desirable” and “undesirable” categories, typically for men's consumption. I’m not sure what the solution is, or if there is a solution. The Code Book by Simon Singh- a history of creating and cracking codes. Singh does a great job explaining how the codes are written and broken, and how these breakthroughs have real world effects in politics and war. The Pentagon’s Brain, by Annie Jacobse