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The Disordered Cosmos
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred | Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
From a star theoretical physicist, a journey into the world of particle physics and the cosmos -- and a call for a more just practice of science. In The Disordered Cosmos, Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares her love for physics, from the Standard Model of Particle Physics and what lies beyond it, to the physics of melanin in skin, to the latest theories of dark matter -- all with a new spin informed by history, politics, and the wisdom of Star Trek. One of the leading physicists of her generation, Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is also one of fewer than one hundred Black American women to earn a PhD from a department of physics. Her vision of the cosmos is vibrant, buoyantly non-traditional, and grounded in Black feminist traditions. Prescod-Weinstein urges us to recognize how science, like most fields, is rife with racism, sexism, and other dehumanizing systems. She lays out a bold new approach to science and society that begins with the belief that we all have a fundamental right to know and love the night sky. The Disordered Cosmos dreams into existence a world that allows everyone to tap into humanity's wealth of knowledge about the wonders of the universe.
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lauraisntwilder
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Pickpick

The stuff about quarks was way over my head, but mostly this was a book that made me want to join a protest or watch the night sky or both! It was partly a love letter to particle physics and partly a memoir.

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Chelsea.Poole
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Pickpick

Cosmological physics from the POV of an outsider. We get all the goods here: astrophysics, BLM, racism in the scientific community and a searing take on inclusion in STEM (the author suggests that the driving force behind including diverse children/people in STEM is to benefit gov and not for inclusion sake). I love books like this that encourage me to think deeper about a wide variety of topics. Even if I didn‘t get the physics stuff 😆

Megabooks You‘ve got me intrigued! 2y
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Singout
Bailedbailed

This seems like a really good book: maybe it is for somebody who understands science, but that isn‘t me! I was attracted by the description of how it analyzes the intersections of scientific work, gender, and race, but I just wasn‘t able to follow it.
#Booked2022 #InvolvesanExploration

BarbaraTheBibliophage Definitely better to bail than suffer! 2y
Singout 😆 2y
10 likes3 comments
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DisneyFan
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Pickpick

Informative and important read. I was delighted with the scientific chapters and the marvel that is our universe. The remainder of her book chronicles her thoughts and experiences as a minority in this country and within a scientific community dominated by white men. Much of it was intensely relatable as a WOC in a male dominated STEM-field.

#bookspinbingo
#August2022
@MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 2y
MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward Yes!!!! Wow, you got through that so quick! 😄🦾 I loved her insights on the world of science, especially how we think of and name a lot of aspects of it. Her shared experiences in the stories were as inspiring as they were heartbreaking. For me, this was a much needed read, especially at the point of life and education in the sciences I‘m at. 📚 Love that you loved it too!! 2y
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MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward
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No sleep. Only reading.

#funny #nosleep #foodandlit

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MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward
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Been waiting on this for MONTHS and there will be no sleep this weekend 😍🌻📖🦾

She is so brilliant. And sassy. And strong. And is probably one of my new heroes.

#prescodweinstein #chandaprescodweinstein #STEM #physics #science #astronomy #cosmology #womenofscience #nonfiction #feminism

DisneyFan I‘m so excited to start this today too! 2y
MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @DisneyFan yay!! Happy reading! 📖☕️🔭 If you find ideas that excite you through the passages, please be welcome to share 🙌 (edited) 2y
DisneyFan @MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward Finished 46% according to GoodReads and enjoying it immensely so far. It‘s a lot to absorb and digest, but so far, it‘s been interesting. (edited) 2y
MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @DisneyFan I was completely unable to finish this within a weekend! There was so much to reflect on, I had to take time to just absorb between chapters, sometimes between sentences. Such an amazing book, now I understand why (and am 5x happier) this had such a long waitlist at the library. (I purchased a copy after waiting 6months on the “hold” list- couldn‘t wait any more hahaha) 2y
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Lesliereads
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My summer has been zany and demanding - mostly in a good way. I haven‘t been able to sink my teeth into any books, but knitting a lace scarf has been my companion. Considering getting into this book, soon. #knittingandreading #readingandknitting

MemoirsForMe Beautiful scarf! 2y
17 likes1 comment
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Zuhkeeyah
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THANK YOU! ❤️ @Hazel2019

These beauties arrived today and my nerd heart is very happy. Cannot wait to dive in!

Hazel2019 You‘re welcome! Hope you enjoy! 🌺 ☀️ ❤️ (edited) 2y
20 likes1 comment
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GingerAntics
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Pickpick

This is such a beautiful and wonderful book. This is such an important book because the rampant sexism, racism, homophobia within her field is just as rampant in many other academic fields. Prescod-Weinstein is brave and brilliant, she gets into good trouble, and wants every child to have the same opportunities to dream. I couldn‘t stop listening, then there was this beautiful letter to her mother and it was all over. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

GingerAntics I really hope she gets a chance to write more books, because I will absolutely read them all. #ChandaPrescodWeinstein #TheDisorderedCosmos #PrideMonth #LGBTQ 2y
GingerAntics This book also tied in well with #ThisLife in its critique of capitalism‘s sexiest, racist agenda. 2y
Graywacke Cool. Nice review 2y
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Branwen I really want to read this! It looks incredible! 2y
GingerAntics @Branwen it really is! 2y
GingerAntics @Branwen @Nutmegnc read it first. She made it sound very interesting and it really was. 2y
Nutmegnc “Good trouble”. Love it!! I‘m glad you enjoyed it!! 2y
GingerAntics @Nutmegnc she did a wonderful job of weaving so much together so seamlessly. 2y
Nutmegnc @GingerAntics Can you imagine what a conversation with them would be like?! 😱 this is officially my selection for “if you could invite one person to lunch, living or dead, who would it be?” 2y
GingerAntics @Nutmegnc YES!!! That would be awesome!!! 2y
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GingerAntics
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GingerAntics
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I love astrophysics, and this seems to fit with so many important issues right now as well. This is my next pride month read.
#ChandaPrescodWeinstein #TheDisorderedCosmos #PrideMonth #LGBTQ

Graywacke Appealing title! 2y
GingerAntics @Graywacke it‘s a great little book. It‘s mostly about science but she‘s weaved racism and sexism into tit quite well. 2y
21 likes2 comments
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Nutmegnc
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“Our current understanding of the universe suggests that the constituents of everything we have ever seen—the very stuff that we are made of—only makes up about 20 percent of the matter in the universe.”

BkClubCare Yea. Am tempted to reply when the pro-birthers site the Bible, that I will read it when an all-female translation crew re-compiles it. 2y
Nutmegnc @BkClubCare 🤣🏆 2y
36 likes2 comments
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Nutmegnc
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Read this incredible book.

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Nutmegnc
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What do Radiohead, Black Lives Matter, and quarks have in common?? The Disordered Cosmos. This book is deep. It is poetic. It is particle physics at the intersection of gender and Critical Race Theory. I recommend EVERYONE read it.

GingerAntics Critical race theory? It‘s a legal book? 2y
Nutmegnc @GingerAntics It is. And the CRT is my interpretation of the myriad ways that laws and systems support whites and exclude Blacks. Even down to our scientific community and research, not necessarily mentioned specifically in the book. Or it wouldn‘t be legal 🙄. (edited) 2y
WaterVixxen I would recommend the Isis Papers as well. Confused by the CRT comment. CRT is not illegal on a federal level it is banned in only a handful of states at present. 2y
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GingerAntics @Nutmegnc unless you‘re reading it to students in a school, in a state that has banned supposed CRT (because CRT is taught in law school, not elementary/jr high/hs), so I‘m confused on that as well. 2y
Nutmegnc @GingerAntics @watervixen I was actually trying to be sarcastic. Sorry the joke didn‘t land. Also I misunderstood the legal comment. No, it‘s a scientific book not a legal book. 2y
GingerAntics @Nutmegnc oh whoops. Sorry. I‘ve gotten this book from library, so I look forward to being able to discuss it with you. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I have been inspired by your social rule breaking. 😂 2y
41 likes3 stack adds7 comments
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Nutmegnc
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This is a good reminder.

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Nutmegnc
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Sophronisba I loved this book! 2y
Nutmegnc @Sophronisba I love it too!!! 2y
32 likes2 comments
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word.morsels
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Picked-up this book from the library today after finishing my apt care and Saturday errands. Nothing like enjoying a fresh book at a café 🙃 Thanks @xicanti for your fabulous recommendations!

xicanti I hope you love this one as much as I did! 3y
word.morsels @xicanti so far I am smitten! 3y
xicanti This makes me so happy! 😊 3y
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xicanti
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Pickpick

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein examines not only her own work in particle physics but also how science happens in a settler-colonial context. This is the book I needed instead of my university‘s frustrating History of Science course. It‘s got me thinking about science from all sorts of different angles, and I know I‘ll be mulling it over for weeks to come. Read it. It matters. 4.5 stars

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eve
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“What are the conditions we need so that a thirteen-year-old Black kid and their single mom can go look at a dark night sky, away from artificial lights, and know what they are seeing? What health care structures, what food and housing security are needed? What science communication structures? What community structures? What relationship with the land do they need?” Image: the Milky Way Center aglow with dust. NASA, taken w/the Spitzer telescope.

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SkeletonKey
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Current audiobook.

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Lindy
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Pickpick

Being a black, Jewish & agender femme particle cosmologist, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein has grappled with all the threads of her history, including misogynoir & colonialism‘s relationship with Indigenous knowledge. Her passion for ethical science makes my heart sing, while her journey to professional status has been harrowing. One of many cool things: the physics of skin—understanding melanin might help us build better, greener technologies. #Queer

Lindy Note: The #audiobook is read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, who unfortunately mispronounces Chanda‘s first name, giving it a soft ‘Sh.‘ 3y
Nutmegnc I heard an interview with the author the other day. It‘s sounds so interesting!! (edited) 3y
Lindy @Nutmegnc Yes! I expected quantum physics and I got so much more out of this book. Loved it. 3y
ReadingEnvy I love how science is being pressed into dealing with indigenous knowledge more often lately, just having read Braiding Sweetgrass. 3y
Lindy @ReadingEnvy Indeed. It‘s encouraging. 😊 3y
41 likes3 stack adds5 comments
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Lindy
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Black lives are the stuff of stars and black lives matter. All of them.

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Lindy
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Even for all its facts, Western science has struggled with acknowledging a core reality: humans are not the masters of our ecosystem, but rather are dependent on it.

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Lindy
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In my view, to be an American president is to helm a sprawling system that does not understand freedom, even as it drones on and on about it.

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Lindy
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Image of a stellar nursery is from the NASA website. I followed the author‘s instructions and typed “Hubble pillars of creation” into an internet search. Wow!

kspenmoll So beautiful! 3y
Lindy @kspenmoll I love this image so much. I crave a bigger picture perspective these days. 3y
batsy @Lindy The pic is gorgeous and I feel the same, too 🪐 3y
Lindy @batsy 🤗☀️💥⭐️ 3y
35 likes4 comments
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Lindy
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When a star goes supernova & converts from plasma to a neutron star, that is some combination of superfluids & solids quite unlike those found on Earth. Similarly I had to undergo intellectual phase transitions to conceive of what it meant to go from being a black girl who loved but did not understand particle physics to a queer agender black woman who loves(& is one of the chosen few who understands how much we don‘t understand)particle physics.

33 likes5 stack adds
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SW-T
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Pickpick

This is a combination of a love letter and scientific sermon to Black people, as well as the queer, trans, and disabled, who dream of being as big and visible as the cosmos. Highlights the need of representation and diversity in STEM.

Reggie Sounds wonderful. Stacked. 4y
28 likes1 stack add1 comment
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SW-T
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New books and new candles. Life is very good.
📚 🥰

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pyjamaviking
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akaGingerK
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“[I]n fact, it was demoralizing.... What I really wanted everyone to understand is that Black thoughts, like Black lives, matter.” #ARC

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akaGingerK

“They were first noticed in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell- when she was still just a grad student! - and her PhD adviser Antony Hewish. In 1974, Hewish was awarded a Nobel Prize for their work and Burnell was not.”
... quotes like this are why it‘s taking me forever to read this book. I have to take a moment to go be angry. #ARC

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Mitch
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The love of physics, inequality in science and academia, Star Trek and a passion for ensuring we all get to enjoy the night sky - my star sign has thrown up a really interesting one this month! #stacked

https://lithub.com/the-astrology-book-club-what-to-read-this-month-based-on-your...

MsMelissa This sounds good! And since I‘m also a Virgo I‘ll add to my own list 😊 4y
Mitch @MsMelissa love it when something interesting appears from left field! 👍🏼 4y
jenniferw88 Yikes! I'm a Taurus but don't do horror ~ 4y
jenniferw88 Stacking yours as I have a Virgo Moon and it's sometimes more accurate than my sun sign! 😂 4y
Mitch @jenniferw88 It looks good 👏 👏 👏 4y
48 likes2 stack adds5 comments