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Lost in Math by Sabine Hossenfelder, which was published just a few months ago. It deals with how foundational theoretical physics has been led astray by aesthetic ideals, i.e. "lost in Math", because of the lack of new empirical data during the last decades.

I read it because I see some parallels to programming/verification language design, where research is usually justified aesthetically because empirical data is hard to come by. It appears doubtful that the book will help you career-wise if you're an academic stuck in a field with similar problems, but it is consolidating to know you're not alone.