A quantum life: my unlikely journey from the street to the stars
Publisher:
Delacorte Press
Pub. Date:
[2023]
Edition:
First edition
Language:
English
Lexile measure:
970L
Description
A NASA astrophysicist narrates his improbable journey from an impoverished childhood and an adolescence mired in drugs and crime to the nation's top physics PhD program at Stanford in this inspiring coming-of-age memoir.
Born into extreme poverty and emotional deprivation, James Edward Plummer was blessed with a genius I.Q. and a love of science. But in his community, a young bookworm quickly becomes a target for violence and abuse. As he struggles to survive his childhood in some of the toughest cities in the country, and his teenage years in the equally poor backwoods of Mississippi, James adopts the hybrid persona of a "gangsta nerd"--dealing weed in juke joints while winning state science fairs with computer programs that untangle the mysteries of Einstein's relativity theory.
When his prodigious intellect gains him admission to the elite Physics PhD program at Stanford University, James finds himself torn between his love of science and a dangerous crack cocaine habit he developed in college. With the encouragement of his mentor Art Walker, the lone Black faculty member in the physics department, James finally seizes his dream of a life in science and becomes his true adult self, changing his name to Hakeem Muata Oluseyi in honor--and celebration--of his African heritage.
In the tradition of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Other Wes Moore, A Quantum Life is an uplifting journey to the stars fueled by hope, hustle, and a hungry mind. As he charts his development as a young scientist, Oluseyi also plumbs the mysteries of the universe where potential personal outcomes are as infinite as the stars in the sky.
Born into extreme poverty and emotional deprivation, James Edward Plummer was blessed with a genius I.Q. and a love of science. But in his community, a young bookworm quickly becomes a target for violence and abuse. As he struggles to survive his childhood in some of the toughest cities in the country, and his teenage years in the equally poor backwoods of Mississippi, James adopts the hybrid persona of a "gangsta nerd"--dealing weed in juke joints while winning state science fairs with computer programs that untangle the mysteries of Einstein's relativity theory.
When his prodigious intellect gains him admission to the elite Physics PhD program at Stanford University, James finds himself torn between his love of science and a dangerous crack cocaine habit he developed in college. With the encouragement of his mentor Art Walker, the lone Black faculty member in the physics department, James finally seizes his dream of a life in science and becomes his true adult self, changing his name to Hakeem Muata Oluseyi in honor--and celebration--of his African heritage.
In the tradition of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Other Wes Moore, A Quantum Life is an uplifting journey to the stars fueled by hope, hustle, and a hungry mind. As he charts his development as a young scientist, Oluseyi also plumbs the mysteries of the universe where potential personal outcomes are as infinite as the stars in the sky.
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 1a988b89-9047-9c90-98d0-839452f2bd1b |
---|---|
Grouping Title | quantum life my unlikely journey from the street to the stars |
Grouping Author | hakeem m oluseyi |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-05-14 18:19:14PM |
Last Indexed | 2024-05-19 06:14:36AM |
Solr Fields
accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
auth_author2
Horwitz, Joshua
author
Oluseyi, Hakeem M. (Hakeem Muata)
author2-role
Horwitz, Joshua,author
author_display
Oluseyi, Hakeem M.
available_at_catalog
Iron River Library
detailed_location_catalog
Iron River Young Adult Nonfiction
display_description
"Renowned American astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi's (born James Plummer) coming-of-age memoir, from young boy to graduate-school student, charts the remarkable resilience of a boy who was offered few chances to succeed, but fought hard to achieve his dream"--
format_catalog
Book
format_category_catalog
Books
id
1a988b89-9047-9c90-98d0-839452f2bd1b
isbn
9781984849632
itype_catalog
BOOK - HARDCOVER
last_indexed
2024-05-19T11:14:36.841Z
lexile_score
970
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
YA 921 OLU
local_time_since_added_catalog
Six Months
Year
Year
owning_library_catalog
Iron River Library
owning_location_catalog
Iron River Library
primary_isbn
9781984849632
publishDate
2023
publisher
Delacorte Press
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
African American scientists -- Biography
Astrophysicists -- United States -- Biography
Autobiographies
Black people
Oluseyi, Hakeem M. -- (Hakeem Muata)
Young adult literature
Astrophysicists -- United States -- Biography
Autobiographies
Black people
Oluseyi, Hakeem M. -- (Hakeem Muata)
Young adult literature
title_display
A quantum life : my unlikely journey from the street to the stars
title_full
A quantum life : my unlikely journey from the street to the stars / Hakeem Oluseyi and Joshua Horwitz
title_short
A quantum life
title_sub
my unlikely journey from the street to the stars
topic_facet
African American scientists
Astrophysicists
Black people
Oluseyi, Hakeem M
Astrophysicists
Black people
Oluseyi, Hakeem M
Solr Details Tables
item_details
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ils:.b21282286 | .i35482679 | Iron River Young Adult Nonfiction | YA 921 OLU | 1 | false | false | Available | irynf |
record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b21282286 | Book | Books | First edition | English | Delacorte Press | [2023] | xiii, 333 pages ; 22 cm. |
scoping_details_catalog
Bib Id | Item Id | Grouped Status | Status | Locally Owned | Available | Holdable | Bookable | In Library Use Only | Library Owned | Holdable PTypes | Bookable PTypes | Local Url |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b21282286 | .i35482679 | On Shelf | Available | false | true | true | true | false | false | 4, 123 |