Dear Science and Other Stories (Errantries) by Katherine McKittrick

Dear Science and Other Stories (Errantries) Reviews

• 
  Justin

  The four stars are for the strength and importance of the core argument. Namely, too many people thinking about Blackness are too content simply describing Black oppression and not nearly interested enough in thinking about the liberatory potential of Blackness itself. This is because (and this is where the science comes in) too many people are still, unwittingly are not, wedded to biological notions of what race is. Even as people dutifully parrot that race is a social construct, they still see it as something constructed in a fundamentally biological way. Put differently, *somehow* the same people that were Black when we were measuring skulls with calipers are still Black now that we *claim* to have left that behind for a social constructivist view of race. It's time to actually let go of biology (and afro-pessimism) and start thinking about Black liberation and the overturning of a biocenteic order that insists on white supremacy and Black inferiority.
  
  The one missing star is because that's basically it. The book gets to its point right away and then is just content to repeat itself and play with form. I appreciate experimentation, especially in academic writing which can get dull, but the experimentation here fails, in my opinion (which is okay, if an experiment's success was pre-determined it wouldn't be much of an experiment). McKittrick is a good Black feminist (although she disavows feminism in the book because it's roots are too white) and so is generous and detailed with her citations. But perhaps too much so. There is one chapter which is basically just a summary of her mentor Sylvia Wynter's Black Metamorphosis and another chapter that is like a remixed Encyclopedia entry where I think (?) all of it is just quotes/paraphrases of other people. My thought is, if I want to read other people, I'll read them myself, just point them out to me. I picked your book up to read you.
  
  I would highly recommend this book, I'm tempted to say to anyone, but realistically it's probably too steeped in academic discourse for a lay person to care about most of it. But I do think the central argument is an important one for everyone is this world where the liberal position has become "believe science" without a reckoning of what science is. Which is not to say that science is bad or wrong, but that science is incomplete, can't account for many of the things that are important to living meaningful lives, and has a long racist history that extends into our present moment. And if that's all you take away from the book, that's enough.
• 
  Harris

  McKittrick's writing is always so clear when reading it but once I try to write about it, the fine points of her ideas instantly escape my grasp. She works with such complex ideas but understands them so well that you think you do too during your cursory read. This book is as exciting and interesting as her Demonic Grounds.
  
  McKittrick takes on the compulsion to know in this new book. Science, the paradigm of knowing, both "socially produces what it means to be biologically human" and lays the groundwork for division within the human (i.e. Wynter's man1-man2). both creates the human Her chapter on methodologies was especially compelling to me as someone in a data driven science.
  
  Two quotes:
  
  "what if we read outside ourself not for ourselves but to actively unknow ourselves, to unhinge and thus come to know each other?"
  
  "these scholars...are much more interested in how we know, how we come to know, than in what we know....questions with knowable answers are ineffective analytical questions..."
  
  
• 
  Dan

  A liberating and profoundly inspiring collection of reflections, interventions, and artistic/poetic expressions that together constitute a perfect union of Black theory and praxis. It’s one of those books that pretty much exhausted my highlighter.
• 
  Natasha Rayman

  Katherine is a genius and this book is proof of the ways her incredible mind works. I’m in complete awe every time I’ve had to read any chapter from Dear Science.
• 
  Krzys Chwala

  Absolutely loved this book!!! McKittrick analyzes how knowledge and liberation and collaboration intersect through a series of essays (that range in topic from citational practices, to algorithms, and even a music playlist). Storytelling as theory. Black living as rebellious methodology. Ways to counter academy’s disciplining. Sustaining curiosity and wonder. This book gives me so much hope about the future of academia—each page really breathes so many possibilities that I hope we realize. In the meantime I’m going to start reading footnotes more :)
• 
  amyleigh

  Gosh. This book is heavy and demands an ongoing return and repetition. the practice. the lessons. the love. The black feminist thinking that McKittrick practices - curious, thoughtful + full of care in its questions and holdings, and rebelliously interdisciplinarity - is generous in all it offers.
• 
  Camille Carr

  This book rocked my world!! 🌎✨As a Latin American Studies/Black Studies graduate student, this book reframed my entire research and encouraged me to adopt a Black feminist geography lens for my work. McKittrick is a truly inspiring Black intellectual and scholar. Amazing!!!!
• 
  Angbeen

  reading something that 'stretches' what counts as science/methodology is really great and I loved this BUT I will say it is a challenging read ... certainly parts of it where I felt like it was a little too entrenched in academic discourses
• 
  N

  Katherine McKittrick is in her bag once again with this one! Also, a very accessible book for folks who want to get into Black science studies, critiques of liberal humanism, and the academy!
• 
  Letisha Brown

  Magnificent
• 
  Marissa Kessenich

  My brain hurts, but this is gonna be one I come back to again and again throughout my life.
• 
  Patrick Ma

  At a certain point while reading this book, I realized: "I have no idea what the author is saying." That's probably on me.