The Disordered Cosmos

A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred

Paperback, 336 pages

Published May 9, 2022 by Bold Type Books.

ISBN:
978-1-5417-2468-6
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4 stars (18 reviews)

4 editions

What I needed 10 years ago, what I needed now

5 stars

My first love was physics. As a teenager I used my newfound ability to access torrents to amass a collection of physics and mathematics textbooks, including a complete collection of the Feynman lectures. I demanded my grandmother drag me to the science museum every time my mom dropped me off at her home. I spent my high school years wishing I were smart enough to attend the, what I considered “cool”, science and math magnet school. I went off to college with the intention of majoring in physics, but when I informed my grandmother of my plans she shot me a concerned look and inquired “and what does one /do/ with that?”

In my story growing up in a family that fled domestic violence and endured years of stalking and surveillance, it had been grilled into me that the path out of poverty was to go to college and make …

the need for perspective

4 stars

Searing essays on the problems of physics at the edges of our understanding of the universe, and the problems of physicists and academia struggling to understand its bizarre-from-fresh-perspective and harmful white colonial subjectivity. Some of these essays have stronger bonds between these elements, while others feel importantly wedged in here with necessary perspective but less thematically linked, like a good blog.

Review of 'The Disordered Cosmos' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

An excellent review of the state of dark matter and cosmology from the point of view of a practitioner at a level readable by a lay person with no knowledge of the subject but more importantly a discussion of the state of the institution of physics from the point of view of a Black queer feminist. A must-read, especially by the white establishment, which is generalisable to many scientific fields.

Review of 'The Disordered Cosmos' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Like no book I've read or imagined reading; the same probably goes for you. The first essay deep-dives straight into hard physics; from there it's a gradual (and effective) progression to Prescod-Weinstein's vision of a more perfect world. She takes us through racism in the sciences and in academia; through misogyny, colonialism, white supremacy, rape, tyranny, language. Each essay is both complete in itself and inextricably tied into the rest of the book; there's doubtless a Quantum metaphor in there somewhere.

This is a challenging book, and not in a consistent way. Prescod-Weinstein does not talk down to the reader -- and few readers will have the background necessary to fully understand every topic she covers. I struggled. You will struggle. Does that deter you? Good: you're not the target audience. Does it encourage you? Make you want to learn more? Even better! Ask me for my (hardcover) copy!

Review of 'The Disordered Cosmos' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Don't have the energy for the review this book deserves. I'd probably end up writing a paper. It is magnificent, powerful, important. Truly intersectional in looking at the discipline of physics, the social constructions of contemporary US society and how they reinforce, co-create and inform one another, and with inspiring analyses and proposals for how and why a more liberatory version of each is urgently needed.

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