Week 9
Prescod-Weinstein comes from a tough background and an even tougher upbringing. She had dreamed of becoming a scientist from a very young age, and proceeded with her dream when she was accepted to Harvard to study cosmology and physics. Despite her achievements and success as a cosmologist, she did not feel satisfied. In her article, she says, “This returns me to my 16 year old self, and the day I got into Harvard, the same day two white boys in my class sat me down and said no matter where I went to college, they would always be better than me.”(). Being one of very few black women in this field of work, she felt like there was structural racism. Not only was she one of the only black women, but African American people were clearly outnumbered by whites. Through her struggles as black women in a system designed for her to fail, she’s overcome all obstacles and strived to the top with her ambition and determination.
Growing up from the streets of east side Detroit and born into poverty, I learned from a very young age that I wanted better for myself and my family. As one of the few dozen students that went off to college, I’ve seen over the last few years most of the friends I went to highschool with end up in jail or dead. I feel like I can relate to some of Chanda Prescod-Weinsteins struggles in the sense that I don’t feel the same when I go back to where I’m from. Everytime I go back home, I see the pain and struggle I’ve always seen growing up. I feel blessed and privileged with the opportunity I was given and I thank god every single day I wake up. I strive to change my environment and the people I keep around me for the better. Although I’m very religious I believe that religion and science cannot go hand and hand.
Kirby describes the concept of wonder becoming omnipresent across the science and entertainment landscape, but it has particularly found a home in contemporary science documentaries. The idea behind ‘wonder’ is to gage at a bigger audience and allow connections between science and a new audience with a focus on religious conceptions of nature. This introduces a new problem that many tend to try to exclude from science, religion. Science is known for trying to remove biases from science for the sake of the truth, which is often harder said than done in today’s society. “Frequently utilized religious metaphors to help explain scientific ideas such as associating DNA with the phrase ‘Holy Scripture’ and referring to the physical laws that govern the universe as ‘commandments’” (Kirby). Kirby uses the show, The Cosmos, to explain how science could be misconstrued by using religious explanations to explain the concept of wonder. I personally think that religion has no part in science due to the multiple different types of biases it creates which can ultimately lead to alternative data. Science is never always correct, it’s a process that involves lots of trial and error. Science has changed over time whereas religion is non changeable.
Work cited:
Bucchi, M. (2008). Of deficits, deviations and dialogues: Theories of public communication of science. In M. Bucchi & B. Trench (Eds.), Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (1 edition, pp. 57–76). Routledge. (PDF in D2L)
Kirby, D. (2015, January 25). Evangelizing the Cosmos: Science Documentaries and the Dangers of Wonder Overload. http://thescienceandentertainmentlab.com/evangelizing-the-cosmos/
Prescod-Weinstein, C. (2019, March 23). The right to know and understand the night sky. Medium. https://medium.com/@chanda/the-right-to-know-and-understand-the-night-sky-3a9fb4e04d92
