Axioms and Particles Tarot
Axioms and Particles Tarot maps the stories and equations of the quantum revolution in physics onto the major arcana of the Tarot. The book explores how science is both real and the stories we tell about it through a non-linear fool's journey on letterpress printed cards with multiple layers of ink and original imagery.
Available at SF Center for the Book biblioshop.
Photos 1 - 5 taken by Hunter Ridenour, https://www.hunterthegatherersf.com/
Photos 7 - 10 taken by SF Center for the Book, https://www.sfcb.org/imprint-and-artist-programs/small-plates
Video and Photo 11 taken by me.
Citations and Further Reading
:: Tarot ::
Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling by Jezmina Von Thiele and Paulina Stevens
https://redwheelweiser.com/book/secrets-of-romani-fortune-telling-9781578638581/
78 Acts of Liberation by Lane Smith
https://mxlanesmith.com/publications/
5th Spirt Tarot by Charlie Claire Burgess
https://www.thewordwitchtarot.com/fifth-spirit-tarot
Charlie Claire Burgess' workshop at the Witches Confluence in 2024:
https://queerlydevoted.substack.com/p/tarot-for-hope
Cacio e Pepe Tarot Deck
https://www.cacioepepetarot.com/
:: Physics ::
The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
1 | Magician | i
“Answers and Explanations -- Do “Imaginary Numbers” Really Exist?” by Philip Spencer
www.math.toronto.edu/mathnet/answers/imaginary.html
4 | Emperor | Leavitt's Law
"Leavitt's Law – or: The Woman Who Changed Astronomy" by Sebastian Stapelberg & Sara Konrad
https://structures.uni-heidelberg.de/blog/posts/2024_03_womens_day/index.php
Also see Chapter 4 of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
5 | Hierophant | Srinivasa Ramanujan
“Never a Dull Number.” by Brain Hayes. American Scientist, 6 Feb. 2017, www.americanscientist.org/article/never-a-dull-number
"The Man Who Saw Infinity" directed by Matt Brown, a film about Srinivasa Ramanujan
How at 19 on an ocean voyage from India to Cambridge Srinivasa Ramanujan proved white dwarfs have a failure point, to the dismay of many:
"We Thought Black Holes Ended in Singularities. They Might End In a Frozen Big Bang." by PBS SpaceTime, Matt O'Dwod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu8xNx4njoM
6 | Lovers | Chien-Shiung Wu & Quantum Entanglement
"Women in Nuclear History: Chien-Shiung Wu" by Jagoda Urban-Klaehn
https://www.winus.org/the-winning-edge/women-in-nuclear-history-chen-shiung-wu/
"Historical origins of quantum entanglement in particle physics" by Yu Shi https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.13582
And Chapter 14 of The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
7 | Chariot | Noether's Theorem
"Noether's Theorem and The Symmetries of Reality" by PBS SpaceTime, Matt O'Dwod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04ERSb06dOg
And Chapter 2 of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
13 | Death | Double Slit Experiment
For an explanation of the Double Slit experiment, see "The Quantum Experiment that Broke Reality" by PBS SpaceTime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-MNSLsjjdo
And Chapter 7 and Figure 7.2 of The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
14 | Temperance | Creola Katherine Johnson & Lunar Landings
"5.4 Katherine Johnson and Euler's Method," Lecture for UCLA modeling class by Prof. Alan Garfinkel
https://modelinginbiology.github.io/Videos/Katherine-Johnson-And-Eulers-Method
17 | Star | E = mc2
E=mc2 by John D. Norton, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh
https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/HPS_0410/chapters/E=mcsquared/index.html
Socialist Reconstruction by the Party for Socialism and Liberation
"Why the FBI Kept a 1,400-Page File on Einstein" by Mitch Waldrop
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/science-march-einstein-fbi-genius-science