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A review by clarabooksit
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I love it when a book reshapes the way I think about a subject and this book challenged me in the best possible ways.
This was not an easy book for me. I knew virtually nothing about particle physics going into this book, so the first few chapters were hard. But the later chapters that center the humanities of science captivated me. I loved the way Prescod-Weinstein tackled racism, misogyny and transphobia in science, the way she interrogated the white, male, cis-gendered, western history of the sciences, the way she included the people who help others practice and further science, and her arguments on how and why we need to decolonize the ways we learn and practice the hard sciences. Likewise, her personal stories and journey were deeply moving, even when I didn’t understand the particle physics connections she was making.
There were odd pop culture references that weren’t always fully explained and/or my own understanding of those references interfered with the author’s interpretation of them that pulled me out of some of her arguments, and I’m pretty sure I’ll never fully comprehend the first four or so chapters, but overall I loved this book.
This was not an easy book for me. I knew virtually nothing about particle physics going into this book, so the first few chapters were hard. But the later chapters that center the humanities of science captivated me. I loved the way Prescod-Weinstein tackled racism, misogyny and transphobia in science, the way she interrogated the white, male, cis-gendered, western history of the sciences, the way she included the people who help others practice and further science, and her arguments on how and why we need to decolonize the ways we learn and practice the hard sciences. Likewise, her personal stories and journey were deeply moving, even when I didn’t understand the particle physics connections she was making.
There were odd pop culture references that weren’t always fully explained and/or my own understanding of those references interfered with the author’s interpretation of them that pulled me out of some of her arguments, and I’m pretty sure I’ll never fully comprehend the first four or so chapters, but overall I loved this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Rape