Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

12 reviews

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

”The universe always turns out to be more complicated and queer than we think.”

The Disordered Cosmos is at its most fascinating when it discusses the ways that colonialism and bigotry intersect with and stunt science. Specifically in how these impact what gets studied and how, who gets to study it, and how we talk about history. At times the book feels like a memoir as the authors brings up her own background and personal anecdotes a lot.

Mileage may vary with how much you get out of the book. I’ve taken some college level introductory astronomy courses and was able to keep up with the science pretty well and didn’t learn much. I got more out of the history and social issues section and would love to look for more advanced science with this Black feminist perspective. Though there are times when the arguments are too broad or too surface level like “racism in science exists.” I also wish the ending offered more tangible, less vague solutions.

Overall, this is a pretty good argument for why people in science need more humanities and understanding of colonialism.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Racism, and Colonisation

murve's review

informative reflective

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Colonisation, Classism, Rape, Misogyny, and Homophobia

alsoapples's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Ableism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Slavery

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cancer, and Deportation

kk_gotit_goinon's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Everyone in academia should read this book. It calls out the experience of so many of us that most people refuse to acknowledge: racism, classism, ableism. All of these are still extremely prominent even in places that claim to be "committed to DEI" even in California where I live and work. 

Dr. Prescod-Weinstein lays everything out so well but without talking down to you or coming off like she is right and you are wrong. She doesn't claim to have all the answers or to know how to solve everything while still pointing out the very real issues that have to be addressed. 

Oh and the physics is pretty interesting but easy to understand (for a neuroscientist at least haha!) 

A must read for a academics and folks who want to try to make the world a better place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Slavery, Colonisation, Classism, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Colonisation, Sexism, Misogyny, and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Car accident, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Death, Murder, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racial slurs, Cancer, and Suicide

Colorism. Eugenics, mentions of forced sterilization. Climate change. Rape and assault are discussed and frankly but not graphically described; a chapter centered around rape includes a content warning in the preface and is able to be skipped.

collins1129's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Classism, Homophobia, Racism, Car accident, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, and Transphobia

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.0

The early chapters of this book lay out the author’s interest in physics with a palpable enthusiasm, while the later chapters discuss the ways that the dominant culture manifests in academia and the physics "community" that work to dim that enthusiasm. I hadn't really considered the ways that science as a discipline and idea are socially constructed so there's lots to think about.

(I did dock a star because I found the chapter on gender a bit reductive - I hate the narrative that nonbinary people exist because they are the only ones who object to traditional gender roles and this chapter skirts pretty close to that. Overall though a great read.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Ableism, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Medical content, Racial slurs, Classism, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, and Transphobia

Minor: Chronic illness, Cancer, Child abuse, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

rorikae's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

'The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred' by Chandra Prescod-Weinstein is an interesting mix of physics, memoir, and advocating for a new approach to science. 
Prescod-Weinstein weaves her own experience as an agender Black person into her explanations of physics and how she views science. She provides both an interesting look into physics for those of us who are less familiar with it as well as exploring how her identity has affected her study of science and view of the science field. As the book goes on, Prescod-Weinstein unpacks the racism, misogyny, and colonialism that are at the heart of modern day science and proposes new ways that we can approach science that opens up access and moves away from white supremacy. 
This book is fascinating in the way that it weaves together different genres into one book to be part memoir, part science textbook, and part critique on the current approach to science. I wouldn't have necessarily thought that all of those pieces could work together but the progression with which Prescod-Weinstein works through these pieces build upon one another so that each part that came before supports what comes after. 
The only part I found difficult was near the beginning when Prescod-Weinstein introduces us to different aspects of physics. I personally have a very hard time understanding physics and though I think Prescod-Weinstein made this far more accessible than most physics textbooks, there were still some aspects that went over my head. I do think this is in part due to listening to the audiobook and that returning to these sections in physical form, I would be able to understand more.
My favorite thing about this book is how all of the pieces come together. The end of the book, where Prescod-Weinstein weaves her own experiences and understanding of physics into a new view of how we can do science that removes harm and is more inclusive, was strengthened by each piece that came before. I have not read many books like this that meld genres to create something new and enlightening. I hope that she will write more in the future and I think this is a crucial read for anyone who is interested in or works in scientific fields. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment

mmtshali's review against another edition

informative reflective

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Misogyny, Colonisation, and Xenophobia