In The Matter of Black Living (University of Chicago Press) Autumn Womack, assistant professor of African American studies and English, examines the relationship between race and data that shaped the social, cultural, and literary environment between 1880 and 1930. She calls into question the use of statistics, social surveys, and other data-collection methods in solving racial problems and explores the impact this approach has had on Black life. Drawing on the work of various Black voices, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Zora Neale Hurston, Womack highlights the value of Black creative innovation. 

Journey into space in the latest installment of the bestselling series Welcome to the Universe (Princeton University Press) — this time in 3D. Authored by Princeton professors Michael A. Strauss and J. Richard Gott *73 (astrophysics) and Robert J. Vanderbei (operations research and financial engineering), along with Neil deGrasse Tyson, the book offers a guide through the cosmos in 3D. A stereo viewer included in the book brings richly colored images of astronomy to life. 

Professor of history Max Weiss offers a detailed cultural and intellectual history of Ba’thist Syria in Revolutions Aesthetic (Stanford University Press). By analyzing a variety of original sources, including films, periodicals, and novels, Weiss highlights themes crucial to the making of contemporary Syria. He details the struggle throughout the Ba’thist cultural revolution during the late 20th and early 21st centuries to align artistic endeavors with the ideological interests of the regime.