Reply to comment

I have really been enjoying Rebecca Goldstein’s Properties of Light and I think books like this can have a role in a Gender and Science class. Our discussions in this class have centered on the debate of the objectivity of physics and also who is excluded from the practice of physics. In her book Goldstein applies these theories to human emotions to form extremely powerful imagery.

1. Justin Childs is trying to convince himself of his own existence but unlike Descartes, he does not exist because he thinks, he exists because he hates. I would place him in the category of ontological realist and epistemological realist.

2. The deceased Dotty winds in and out of the story as a sort of mystic and symbolizes the ontological anti-realists that Justin abhors.

3. Finally, Dana is very proud of her physics aptitude but does she think she is an exception as a woman physicist. Even more importantly, Goldstein, through Dana, is supporting the feminist notion that we need diversity (a view from many somewheres) in order to create the best scientific theory.

These character traits provide an interesting, exciting way to look again at the dialogues we have been having in our class.