The Disordered Cosmos, by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

For the first 1/4 to 1/3 of this audiobook I understood almost nothing of what I was listening to, although I enjoyed it. That’s because physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is talking about physics, and even though this is physics broken down for the lay person, most of it went over my head. I do enjoy hearing people talk about physics; it’s fasincating, but I can’t really retain a lot of it.

However, the book goes on from there to talk about Prescod-Weinstein’s own experiences as a Black woman in the field of astrophysics — where she is a rarity. She directly attacks the idea that science can or should be “apolitical” and points out the ways in which, both in the past and the present, the practice of science has supported racism and sexism — as well as they ways in which this can and should change. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from the personal, historical, and sociological aspects of this book, even if the scientific parts mostly sailed over my head.