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

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

The Disordered Cosmos by Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (she/they) is the most thoughtful, respectful, and considerate book I’ve ever read. I’ve been interested in astronomy since I was a kid so I’m always interested to read about it and related topics. While that’s true, I don’t prioritize these books because they’re usually written by straight white cis men, and these men aren’t writing with marginalized individuals in mind. The Disordered Cosmos feels like the science book I’ve always needed, and it was exciting to read a science book that’s so inclusive and nuanced. 

 

Part of this book explains the basics of particle physics, and as someone who was awful at physics in high school, I’m surprised I understood some of it! It’s explained in an approachable way and it’s clear that the author wants you to understand (but they also note that it’s okay if you don’t!). It would have been awesome to have this author as a teacher. 

 

The rest of the book explores topics like who gets to be a scientist, the physics of melanin, and issues with the language that’s used to discuss spacetime, all of which add to the larger discussions of colonialism, white supremacy, racism, and misogyny that happen throughout the book. The book also focuses on the contributions of Native Hawaiians and Indigenous knowledge to our current understanding of cosmology, a cosmology that does not acknowledge them, but instead actively harms them. This harm is ongoing in present day. 

 

One my favourite aspects of this book is the way the author intentionally discusses the contributions of BIPOC scholars and communities throughout history who have been overlooked. I also appreciate how they reference studies from the social sciences and humanities in their discussions. In my own experience as a bioarchaeologist, other scholars tend to undervalue or dismiss us. To see a scientist cite these works and state their importance in understanding the larger implications of scientific research—and say that it’s unscientific to do otherwise—was so meaningful to me and is an important point for all readers to understand. 

 

The chapters that spoke to me the most were the ones about emotional labour and academic housekeeping. It was validating to read about these experiences as they mirrored many of my own experiences from my MA program. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein says that “We people of colour and white trans/genderqueer/cis women and nonbinary people do the academic housework that helps keep academia running” without being compensated, and that couldn’t be more true. While the focus of this book is particle physics, I like how the criticisms about the state of physics are applicable to most other academic disciplines, my own discipline of anthropology included.  

Reading about the author’s perspective on these topics and their love of physics was wonderful and I love the way she views science. They acknowledge that there are multiple perspectives and ways of being and viewing the sky. She says that “every community has a cosmology” and believes that everyone has a fundamental right to know and love the night sky. That’s such a beautiful way to think about humanity and the cosmos and it’s a sentiment that has stuck with me several months after finishing the book. 

This book widened my perspective on so many topics, challenged me in the best way, and made me feel seen. It’s one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read, and I hope we see more inclusive and nuanced science books like this in years to come.