“Pythagoras's Trousers: God, Physics, and the Gender War” by Margaret Wertheim

This book has been on my to read list for sooooo long, I almost forgot it was there. I was lucky and managed to get a copy at my new library. It’s such a fascinating book, it primarily gives a very accessible overview of the history of physics. Wertheim takes a very close look though at the relationship between physics and religion, and how that impacts the way female physicists work and are treated. As a result this spans everything from history and philosophy of science to feminism to religion.

Now the book itself was published in the 90s so it is a bit dated, I am willing to bet though that the argument Wertheim is making still holds water. Essentially, physics throughout history has been entwined with religion. This could be religious universities in the Middle Ages, or even more present day with talk of the God particle and whatnot. And that has inevitably led to scientists believing that only men can carry it out, like some sort of scientific priesthood. But the field could benefit greatly from more equitable inclusion of women, right now physicists are focused on this theory of everything that will not measurably change anyone’s day to day life (as admitted by the scientists themselves). One way the field would change with the inclusion of women is that it may shift its focus to topics more focused on benefitting society. But Wertheim is also careful to say that it isn’t a female physicists job to do this, it’s just that there will inevitably be changes and that is what she predicts would happen.

I really enjoyed reading this work, I thought the inclusion of all of these different topics and fields made for a really compelling read and argument. I am a biologist, not a physicist, so there was a lot of new scientific information in this work, in addition to everything else. I do see Wertheim’s project though as parallel to my interests in biology and adding to it, I really want to make science more equitable and inclusive as a teacher. And I want to teach myself more about the philosophy and history of science to fully understand it. These topics aren’t taught to you as a scientist, you have to go out of your way to get exposure to them.

I am so glad I was eventually able to find this book, it was a great read. The information is presented in a very friendly way, and it gives insightful commentary on the field itself. This book does it all!