Loved reading this interesting and insightful book. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

Thank you NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited about reading this book, tackling social and ethical issues while learning astrophysics? Sounds like an amazing read, unfortunately this book didn't quite deliver.
The writing is decent, she tries to explain things in a way that might be easier for the reader to understand complex physics and more, she also tells the stories as if you were just a friend, which feels nice.
The author's main concern are things such as "why did they name this the colored theory?", they didn't; she's actually referring to quantum chromodynamics and after a google search I noticed that nobody uses the word "colored" in it.
Another example is saying that the name for "dark matter" is outrageous because it's usually associated with something bad, a quick internet search will tell you that it's called "dark" because it doesn't interact with anything, including light, I think it's a very appropriate and self explanatory name.
To bring up these things as an example of what's wrong with society and racism seems silly, we all know there are bigger issues than that, we need to focus on the bigger problems and this book doesn't do that, neither did it teach anything to me so, needless to say, I was disappointed twice after reading it.

A fascinating, utterly unique, and necessary book. I will admit, the first couple of chapters were a bit difficult to get through (due to all the science - who would have thought? ha!) but it was worth it. There is an audiobook version too that is very well done, so that might be helpful to some. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the intersection of science/humanities, and in the historically contingent foundations of our conceptions and institutions of knowledge.

I truly hope that anyone who finds the book jacket or summary text interesting will read this book in its entirety, even if they don't understand all the science. It is a gorgeous exploration of astrophysics, culture, and race that calls us all to account for the ways we overlook all manner of things in our lives. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Disordered Cosmos is probably the best book I have read all year. The book starts focusing on cosmology and particle physics giving a broad background. Then it evolves into being a focused discussion on the author's primary focus of research, one area being Dark Matter. In this way, it works well as a science book. She gives a good background of the science in a way that I think really helps get the reader interested in what it is she does and the cosmos. This is common in science writings, especially in cosmology. I found her writing as good as, if not better than, many people who write popular cosmology books. I have noticed some reviewers complain because they find this section difficult to get through, but I would urge you not to be turned away because of this. There seems to be this assumption that if you can’t understand everything in a book then it isn’t worth reading. Well, I’ll tell you a little secret: no one understands moderately advanced topics in science their first time exposed to it. It takes time, and part of that process means being willing to get confused. You’re likely to still leave this big with a better appreciation for the science than when you started. If you’re interested in pursuing it further, then you can, and if not, that’s okay too. This is still meant for the average reader.

I think what really makes this book shine is when it transitions into being a larger conversation about race in science. She starts with discussion about the science of blackness, for example focus on melanin. She uses ideas in space physics to study blackness to give a new perspective on what it means to be black. The decision to do this is both fascinating and an effective transition from the cosmological discussion to the broad sociological discussions she has in the book. She goes on to discuss life as a scientist. She explores what it means to be a scientist, especially for her as a queer agender black Jewish fem scientist. In doing so, she explores how discrimination and racism has integrated itself into the institutions of science and the process of science itself. Then she goes on to talk about the ways in which it needs to be improved. One of the major ideas she explores is on the interconnectedness of everything. As a physicist, she is able to take this to a quantum level, but it extends far beyond that. Everything we do in science is influenced by the society we live in, including the colonial and racist mindsets within said society. If we do not acknowledge how we interact with our science, then we will continue to do flawed science. Part of that means ostracizing other voices and leading to the low level of scientists who are black or who challenge the traditional gender binary.

For those who are interested, there was a recent(ish) paper specifically on this topic in AGU Publications titled, “Double jeopardy in Astronomy and planetary science: women of color face greater risks of gendered and racial harassment,” Clancy et al., 2017. This discusses just how prominent an issue this is within our (the planetary science and astronomy) community. Furthermore, if you are interested in exploring more books on science, gender, and race, I would direct you to the list of books Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein says inspired her in the writing of her book.

Now I could go on and on about this book, but I think really the best bet for you is just to pick it up and read it. I recommend it for everyone. While it may be someone esoteric in its science, I think you are seriously depriving yourself if you do not give it a shot. If you decide to pass on it because of the science, you would also be missing out on more nuanced conversation about science, representation, and the black experience in science. Read this book!

Written by a Black woman in STEM! Those of us who are sick of science titles by the same dozen White male authors will love this book. The cover is gorgeous, the approach is novel, and the writing is stellar. Highly recommend.

What a book. It took me a while to write this review, since I needed time to absorb Prescod-Weinstein's words. As a physics PhD student, I'm saddened to see the state of our field when it comes to relations among people and the treatment of certain parts of the community, but I also am truly grateful for people like Prescod-Weinstein who shine a light on this issue, push it to the fore, and make us reckon with it. We all need to do better to make science (and physics in particular) a more inclusive field.

If I had to use one word to describe this book, I think it would be "raw". Prescod-Weinstein's writing can be felt in every sentence, and I found myself unable to stop reading. I personally didn't enjoy the popular science parts of the book as much as the sociological ones, but I think the book is still really good.

I want to like popular science, and am always pleasantly surprised on the rare occasions I do. I think that, to a large extent, my reading habits in this have been shaped by being a good textbook student. When I'm presented with nonfiction, I like to have things laid out to me systematically (as good textbooks will do!) in bite-sized pieces, layered on to one another. In college, I developed an interest in quantum physics, but since my college didn't offer those classes, I borrowed library textbooks on the subject (idk why my school had them, considering) and thoroughly enjoyed those. Physics, in general, was my favorite science, from high school and beyond.

So it's always been weird to me that I'd pick up seminal pop science texts from Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan and the like and be, frankly, bored. I'd read the first chapter or two and just find myself utterly mystified and annoyed. So Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is in good company when I say that I found the first 4-6 chapters of her book a struggle. As she herself admits later on in The Disordered Cosmos, writing about science for a lay audience is hard. She's got a ton of enthusiasm and a ton of knowledge, but trying to break that down into pieces for readers who don't have at least a working knowledge of the subject is a tough task, and one I don't feel she accomplishes. But this isn't meant to be a textbook -- and that's a good thing, because I had occasional quibbles with her scientific philosophies, which at one point directly contradict themselves (more on that further down.) What it is meant to be is an exploration of what it's like to be a minority in a supposedly highly rational field, and to be continually confronted with all the ways this so-called rationality is really just systemic white supremacy.

The back 60% of the book is essentially a sociology of science text, and is really engaging and brutally frank as Dr Prescod-Weinstein discusses her experiences as a black, Jewish agender queer woman in the field of particle physics. She talks about race and radical politics, solidarity with labor and Indigenous peoples, rape and sexism, and her hopes for a society that encourages everyone to learn -- and not just by providing aspirational models but by actually giving people the security with which to choose the pursuit of knowledge instead of needing to divert all that energy into mere survival -- with both fire and finesse. Reading TDC makes you wonder why her politics are considered radical when anyone with an ounce of common sense can see that they embody doing the right thing for humanity in general. "But who's going to pay for it?" moan the trolls and the ignorant and the entrenched interests. Well, once we properly tax the rich and stop letting the military-industrial complex use our tax dollars as their fun money stashes, we'll be in a good position to fix the fraying social net that's barely supporting America, thereby launching entire generations into scholarship, if that's what they choose to do.

That is, however, another of the weaknesses of this book, that it is very American -- understandable tho given that therein lies the bulk of Dr Prescod-Weinstein's experience. It's just weird that she complains about cultural imperialism but defaults to assuming that America is the center of the world, in line with several other inconsistencies that haven't yet been ironed out in her thinking, e.g the difference between scientific fact and the assigning of moral value to them in re: the field of optics; or the complaint that the pursuit of knowledge needs to justify itself (for funding etc.) vs the insistence that science needs to tie itself to social issues. I get what she's trying to say, but I wish she'd done it more clearly so that I'm not left doubtful in assuming that she and I actually are on the same page.

Anyway, TDC is fine for pop science (I guess) but it's really great as a critique of the way contemporary American science -- and by extension, contemporary American society -- treats people who aren't able-bodied straight white males. Skim the first few chapters to get to the really good stuff, tho.

The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, And Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein was published March 9, 2021 by Bold Type Books and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781541724709">Bookshop!</a> Want it now? For the Kindle version, <a href="https://amzn.to/3vekXeB">click here</a>.

This book is partly a common language explanation of physics concepts, and partly a discussion of the misogyny and racism embedded in the physics community.

I appreciated that Prescod-Weinstein explained her intentions behind her tone. She states that she wants to be inclusive to everyone, including those who have not been privileged with a robust science education. She further identifies the more academic, formal tone with white, male academia. I’m not sure how much I agree with that assessment, but I did appreciate understanding what she was going for with her informality.

I did have trouble understanding some of the more advanced physics concepts, but I learned a lot about dark matter. Prescod-Weinstein explains that it is more accurately referred to as transparent, since that is actual reason why it is hard to see.

Much of the book discusses the bigotry embedded in the academic community. While much of what she discussed wasn’t surprising, given the society we live in, it was still dismaying. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, for example, ran an exhibit where they deliberately referred to Caroline Herschel, an early astronomer, as an “enthusiastic assistant” to her brother. This is in spite of the fact that she discovered several cosmic bodies. When the author reached out, pointing out the error, rather than responding to her, the director wrote an op-ed defending their position that Caroline Herschel would have not viewed herself as an astronomer in her own right.. What’s worse, the op-ed deliberately did not refer to the author as Dr. or with any of her other academic titles and honors, in what could only be assumed was a thinly veiled attempt to discredit her.

I found the discussion of emotional housework interesting. Prescod-Weinstein argues that BIPOC, female, and LGBTQ professors are more likely to have to take time to mentor students, particularly those with marginalized identities. They take on the emotional burden that these students need help with, and many feel an obligation to help in a way they wish they had when they were coming up. White, cisgender, straight, male professors are less likely to identify with students who need help with marginalization and other issues, and are also less likely to value that kind of relationship. So, they are the professors who have more time for research and publication. However, when professors go up for tenure, this type of emotional housework is not taken into account. As a public school teacher, who is now required to be trained in mental health first aid (let’s be honest, that’s due to not being able guarantee there’s an actual qualified person on campus for that kind of thing), not being valued for emotional housework seems mind boggling.

Prescod-Weinstein is always very careful to make distinctions between her own experience and speaking for other marginalized groups. She makes sure to state when she is speaking about others, and how to find more resources that would qualify as own voices.

In a way I could've done without the first few, very science-heavy chapters of this book, except that they were very successful at conveying Prescod-Weinstein's passion for science, and that becomes a crucial fact in the later chapters.

The later chapters flip the script, and instead of focusing on cosmology sprinkled with connections to race, they center the role of race in science. Prescod-Weinstein paints a painful, ugly picture of the way science (especially physics) ignores racial factors and actively bars non-white-cis-abled-bodied men from the pursuit of knowledge they are equally entitled to. This last bit was expertly framed. Often I've heard "diversity and inclusion" advocated for because what if within a marginalized person lies the cure for cancer? Which is another way of saying we should be more inclusive so the marginalized can do more for us. How about instead, we expand our idea of who can be a scientist because every person on Earth should have equal access to wonder, awe and the answers to difficult questions about what they're made of?

I myself have never been too concerned with what I'm made of because I know it's 83% salt and vinegar Lays and I don't care to inquire further. But if I wanted to find out, a lot fewer people would try to stop me than have tried to stop Prescod-Weinstein. How has the author tolerated it? By letting her thirst for knowledge win over the racists and homophones. She makes very clear it is not easy and not always the case. Just as acutely as I felt her passion, I felt the heavy burden on her shoulders to fight for her own career, clear the way for more like her, and change the white supremacist foundation on which modern science is built.

Overall, an eye-opening, galvanizing read that's worth it for even the most science-averse.

This is an excellent book. I would recommend it for anyone with a casual or passing interest in physics or science in general. I also think it should be required reading for all scientists and science educators regardless of field. A common misconception is that science is without culture. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein does a brilliant job of connecting the influences of race and culture on the language used in science and how that can be discouraging to certain groups, why who is doing science matters, and the necessity of being reflective in the science we do.
I am a biologist by training but I felt the author did a great job of making the physics relatively digestible. I did have to go over some sections multiple times but I don’t think that should be off putting to anyone interested in reading this book. I read this book through an ARC on netgalley. I have preordered a physical copy and can’t wait to re-read it over and over.

While the first third of this book gets heavy into science, Prescod-Weinstein opens the narrative to talk about race and power and questions the limits of what we know. She questions how we approach the sciences and education from a more humane equitable perspective, which is something I’m delighted to share with my students. This book is so timely in its conversation about the lasting effects of colonialism, colorism and racism, and how we can think about these issues in connection with each other. She shares important moments of her history and positions herself as an incredible leader in STEM and activist writings.

This book is largely a session of the author's fascinating musings on everything from science to sociology and race in America. Despite the heavy physics terminology in the first few chapters, it was so well written that I could easily follow most of it. Math is not something that translates easily for me but I'm fascinated by string theory, quantum physics and spacetime. I loved everything about this book. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein refers to herself as a "griot of the universe— a storyteller" and she certainly is. This book will light the fire of inspiration in anyone who reads it. The tradition of racism among scientists is a topic not typically broached but an important discussion to have. Thank you so much for allowing me to review this.

My love for cosmology first began when I took a seminar as a freshman that explored the intersection of physics and philosophy. Cosmology felt like escapism, an alternate reality. This kind of science, I believed, was absolute — set systems of mathematics and logic defined rules that couldn’t be broken or influenced by any sort of human bias. Of course, as a disabled woman studying STEM, I was aware of ways systems of oppression poisoned seemingly objective science, but cosmology felt different, infallible. Like somehow studying something unthinkingly bigger than us rendered our human bodies and the sometimes monstrous things we do and experience in them invisible.

Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s THE DISORDERED COSMOS blew me away. A marvelous blend of cosmology, physics, Black feminist theory, and strongly-rooted ideas around decolonization of science, THE DISORDERED COSMOS reminded me that any kind of science can never be extricated from the humans that study it, and that cosmology and the universe can never be discrete from our human celebrations and struggles. Our perceptions of the universe are as much a reflection of those telling its story — and those whose voices are amplified and celebrated rarely include people like Prescod-Weinstein, a Black, disabled, and queer femme balanced on top of a scientific structure shaped from a distinctly white and male worldview.

This dissonance between her wonder of the universe and her own struggles against oppression on this earth are laid out in interwoven storylines. In one chapter she geeks out about bosons and fermions and quarks. In another, she ties the violence of her rape in school by a fellow scientist to larger structures of patriarchal power that captures so many unnamed sexual violations within STEM fields (and beyond). Her narrative is intimate in the ways she connects all aspects of who she is — the traumatized, the wonderful, the messiness — to her love for her science. And she expresses this love both in the down-to-earth scientific explanations that went over my head at times and the critiques on how she believes the field can and should be reworked away from colonial and imperialist violence.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This is out in March!

The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an all-encompassing guide to the state of race, gender, and other social issues in science, particularly particle physics. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein split the book into three sections that each focus on a part of her thesis: the science behind physics, spacetime, and particles; race, focusing primarily on Black scientists; and how physics and race intertwine and must be used to better society.

There is A LOT going on in this book. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein makes a good attempt at explaining astronomy and physics in a way that makes it interesting and easy to comprehend (or as much as one can with such a complicated and broad subject). She keeps the thread of dark matter and the topics that fill her day to day research in mind throughout the book. Anyone who has spent time with scientists knows that this is a hard task since many times science is only applicable to other science to them. However, because of her scientific background, research is referenced a tremendous amount and may sometimes seem too much like an academic paper for someone looking to read the book straight through.

The author is also able to connect her science to topics that are especially timely today while introducing concepts that many readers may have little to no experience with. Substantial time is spent explaining the effects of colonialism on science, the effects of science on indigenous people, and how society and science, in particular, has been built on the backs of marginalized groups. Topics like the building of telescopes in Hawaii and the emotional labor that Black academics must perform are discussed in-depth and will hopefully awaken many other scientists to these topics.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a more nuanced view of race, gender, and other social issues in the world of science. I believe it would especially be beneficial to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty in all aspects of academia as it will certainly make them think of the ways that they can improve communication and acknowledge the racial and societal implications of the academy.

I gave this book 4/5 stars because it's easily one of the most interesting and critical books that I have read this year but it is also a difficult read with a primarily academic tone that takes effort to get through.