Fear of a Black Universe

An Outsider's Guide to the Future of Physics

By: Stephon Alexander

Narrated by: Stephon Alexander

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

"The rabbit hole gets wrestled here. An old school saying applies: the more you know, the more you don’t know. Dance along this read into the unknown and find out that this book may be the best ever answer to ‘What is soul?'" (Chuck D, rapper and cofounder of Public Enemy)

Starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly!

In this important guide to science and society, a cosmologist argues that physics must embrace the excluded, listen to the unheard, and be unafraid of being wrong.

Years ago, cosmologist Stephon Alexander received life-changing advice: to discover real physics, he needed to stop memorizing and start taking risks. In Fear of a Black Universe, Alexander shows that great physics requires us to think outside the mainstream - to improvise and rely on intuition. His approach leads him to three principles that shape all theories of the universe: the principle of invariance, the quantum principle, and the principle of emergence. Alexander uses them to explore some of physics' greatest mysteries, from what happened before the big bang to how the universe makes consciousness possible. Drawing on his experience as a Black physicist, he makes a powerful case for diversifying our scientific communities. Compelling and empowering, Fear of a Black Universe offers remarkable insight into the art of physics.

©2021 Stephon Alexander (P)2021 Basic Books

Critic reviews

“The book reminds me of Hawking’s A Brief History of Time - very brief and very ambitious. It covers an enormous amount of material and offers insights not only into physics but how we do physics and who we are as physicists.” (David Spergel, winner of the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics)

"This beautiful and surprising book will leave readers wanting to learn more about the author and his mind-bending ideas.... Lush with ideas and bold in its analysis of the status quo, this book reorients our view of science and the universe." (Kirkus, starred review)

"Theoretical physicist Alexander searches the far reaches of the cosmos while addressing the experiences of marginalized people in STEM fields in his refreshing survey.... The result is both an excellent work of advocacy and a welcoming introduction to physics." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Perfect for the advanced non-expert

Mr. Alexander covers a broader range of topics, and goes more in depth at the same time than many of his contemporary physicist. So if you’re looking to go deeper, this is the book for you.

Won me over!

Admittedly, I was lukewarm when I started, expecting largely a rehash of well trodden TOE ground. This book is anything but that. The personal story coupled with some brave speculation made for a very compelling narrative! I finished hopeful that physics may yet EMERGE from its current dry spell with a deeper understanding of our universe.

Mostly Mysticism

Mostly Mysticism

This includes a brief description of some of key open issues in physics and proposes science requires an open mind and some level of refusing to conform to existing norms. In addition the author describes the prejudice he faced as a black physicist and suggested the progress of science is enhanced by diversity and outsider perspectives. Much of the text focuses on the idea that consciousness is linked to quantum results and proposes individual consciousnesses may be linked together, eventually into a cosmic consciousness.

I think almost everyone would agree that diversity and outside perspectives are good for the progress of science and racism is science does exist and is bad and some non-conformity is science is necessary - but it should be grounded in experiments.

I found the complaining a bit whiny, and the focus on consciousness without any suggestions for actual experimental verification more mysticism than science. The possible link between consciousness and quantum behavior has been carefully considered for decades, and most physicists now reject this connection in favor of one of the other explanations. The author ends the book with "No one ever died from theorizing!" which may be true...but theorizing, undirected by experimentation, is philosophy not science.

The author's narration is acceptable, but not great.