The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred is a non-fiction book by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.
Gave up on: 18.2.2025

„Plot“:
In The Disorded Cosmos, Prescod-Weinstein introduces particle physics and cosmology while she also explores her own history with physics, as well as the field’s history regarding diversity and inclusion.

I went into the book expecting the wrong thing. I thought it would be more of a memoir type thing, more about the inclusion within the field of physics. But at least the first part of the book is basically an introduction to particle physics, albeit one combined with some personal memories and with the feminist practice of naming the researchers that are relevant, pointing out when there were just white men, and when there were People of Color and women involved that history likes to forget. While I really liked the way Prescod-Weinstein executes this part, I know jack-shit about physics and I was completely overwhelmed by her explanations.

I think that it was her goal to explain things in a way that is also accessible to newbies, but this newby failed to understand much of anything, and it became exhausting and frustrating to me, so I finally decided to call it quits after the first part. Maybe later the book would have given me more of what I expected, but I won’t find out. It just wasn’t for me.