Image: The cover of the book is a cream colored background with the profile of a dark skinned person looking downward, shown facing to the right from the neck up. The photo itself is greyscale that is mostly transparent and replaced with an image of the milky way shown in a clear night sky. There are countless stars of varying brightness and the strip of the milky way stretching down through the center, composed of oranges, whites, purples, and blues. In large white letters is the title of the book and in the lower right corner outside of the profile, is the author's name.
As a layperson interested in astrophysics and cosmology, I generally get interested in any newer books coming out that cater at least somewhat to my demographic. But, just like the fields themselves, the pool of writers tends to be fairly one-dimensional in terms of gender and usually race. I also often wish scientists would expand their discussions of the specifics of their field to how social aspects fit into it and their personal experiences. As a result, I was anticipating the release of Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's "The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred" as soon as I found out about it. It took me a minute to get to, but I am glad I finally did. The author breaks many molds with this book and I think the field is better for it.
I will admit that I expected a bit more of the specifics of astrophysics and Prescod-Weinstein's focus and work in this book. It was a little disappointing that that only made up a smaller section in the beginning, and a large section of that was based on overview. I left knowing more about the author's life and views on social justice (which I also enjoyed) than I did her work in astrophysics and cosmology. So, I consider this to be more of a scientist's memoir with a science writing bend than I do a strictly pop-science book. Nonetheless, I think it is a valuable contribution to all of those genres. I actually think it could be good that the title "tricks" some readers into a book that spans all of these genres because Prescod-Weinstein touches on so many issues that have plagued the sciences for centuries.
The author captures well what it is like to straddle multiple positions and identities within and outside her profession. She is the first Black woman to receive positions and acknowledgement for many things and that is a shame. I recall that before this book existed, I searched for texts by Black women and struggled to find them. As Prescod-Weinstein shows though, that is not because they didn't exist. She takes us far back to Harriet Tubman using the North Star as a guide during her liberations of/with enslaved Africans. She discusses all of the things that go into making science happen outside of just the experiments themselves. We not only rely on principal investigators and statisticians, but also on those who take out the trash and maintain the buildings in which sciences take place. Covid-19 did wake many people up to the reality of how "essential workers" are "heroes" that hold things together. But, those people have been holding things together outside of the pandemic for as long as they've existed. What would the world look like without people working grocery stores, sanitation, etc? In places where garbage collectors have gone on strike, we can see how quickly streets can turn into a toxic wasteland without them. Furthermore, there is literal science methods and math involved in many of these professions. So, the author talking about all of these people "doing science" is a welcome addition to the long history of highlighting only a select few with the most privilege and publications.
Prescod-Weinstein talks about her childhood love of cosmology and how hard her mother worked in order to make sure she had access to learning materials and opportunities- things many people who are interested in similar topics never get to have. She discusses how even folks who make it to university can still struggle to break though any ceilings if their university is less wealthy and does not give them access to journals and materials to excel. She talks about how efforts towards "diversity and inclusion" focus far too much on adding a little color to their photos rather than actually support and understanding marginalized scientists. She discusses hardships and abuses she has dealt with more personally throughout the book in classic style of memoir. These include experiences of assault and harassment by people she chooses not to name publicly for fear of backlash and of what would happen to those she would be outing.
The only thing that made me bristle was her discussion of transgender issues, including her own gender labels. I know that we all need to be careful with "gatekeeping" as people are often questioning and trying to figure things out. I know that any questioning of anyone will always lead to some people being pissed off about it, and I am fine with that being fired in my direction. Many of us who now ID as trans and have transitioned in many or all ways possible went through this phases of experimentation and shifting labels for ourselves- this is generally a good thing. All people- including cis people- playing with gender norms will likely result in a better world. My issue is how she is speaking as an authority with a very wide reach while coming from a place where she doesn't seem to understand what terms mean or what her personal relationship to gender is. I won't dissect every bit, but I will say that her description of herself is the definition of being a cisgender woman. Talking about being agender and marginally transgender is adding to the increasing phenomenon of LGBTQ+ terms ceasing to have any meaning whatsoever. I think that she- and she is certainly not the first- should spend more time exploring and understanding themselves before writing book sections on these topics. When questions of gender nonconformity and being trans become dominated by gender conforming, comfortable with everything associated with their AGAB/ASAB, cis/heteronormatively presenting, etc people, we get to the point where pronouns are given more space than violence, healthcare access, etc, which is precisely what Prescod-Weinstein does (though she does touch on some of the latter.) I will stop there for now because this is already dominating to much of this review as I worry failure to explain myself is going to be used as ammo against her or me- which I do not want.
Overall, this book is a great memoir and essay collection that creates many bridges with science writing. It starts many valuable conversations that I hope people will be brave enough to explore in their own lives and laboratories. I think that Chanda Prescod-Weinstein took many big risks in putting this book out there and in her public discussion of struggles with oppression in STEM fields. For that she should be commended. The book is also well written and interesting in general, so I can't recommend it enough.
This was also posted to my goodreads.
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