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A review by saucy_bookdragon
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Racism, and Colonisation