A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars

by Hakeem Oluseyi, Joshua Horwitz

In this inspiring coming-of-age memoir, a world-renowned astrophysicist emerges from an impoverished childhood and crime-filled adolescence to ascend through the top ranks of research physics.
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS • “You’ll encounter one extraordinary turn of events after another, as the extraordinary chess player, puzzle solver, and occasional grifter works his way from grinding poverty and deep despair to worldwide acclaim as a physicist.”—Bill Nye, CEO of The Planetary Society

Navigating poverty, violence, and instability, a young James Plummer had two guiding stars—a genius IQ and a love of science. But a bookish nerd is a soft target, and James faced years of bullying and abuse. As he struggled to survive his childhood in some of the country’s toughest urban neighborhoods in New Orleans, Houston, and LA, and later in the equally poor backwoods of Mississippi, he adopted the persona of “gangsta nerd”—dealing weed in juke joints while winning state science fairs with computer programs that model Einstein’s theory of relativity.
 
Once admitted to the elite physics PhD program at Stanford University, James found himself pulled between the promise of a bright future and a dangerous crack cocaine habit he developed in college. With the encouragement of his mentor and the sole Black professor in the physics department, James confronted his personal demons as well as the entrenched racism and classism of the scientific establishment. When he finally seized his dream of a life in astrophysics, he adopted a new name, Hakeem Muata Oluseyi, to honor his African ancestors.
 
Alternately heartbreaking and hopeful , A Quantum Life narrates one man’s remarkable quest across an ever-expanding universe filled with entanglement and choice.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Science, Biography, Physics, Autobiography, Audiobook

342 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2021

Reviews

[Katie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I know next to nothing about physics, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this memoir about NASA astrophysicist, Hakeem Oluseyi. As a Black male growing up poor, moving frequently and therefore bouncing around from school to school, Hakeem didn't have the easiest path to success. As an adult he battled addiction. But eventually he found his way and he made it. He made it big time!

Obviously if you read the synopsis, you know he has a super smart job. What makes this memoir such a compelling read is his journey to get there. Throughout his academic career there were many people who thought he didn't belong due to the color of his skin. He was constantly having to prove himself to these people. You feel so frustrated on his behalf and of course you feel invested in him and root for his success.

I would have loved to learn a bit more of about his life in recent years but I understand writing a memoir is personal and there might be certain things you wish not to share. Overall, it truly is an inspiring memoir and I highly recommend checking it out.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for providing me with an advance digital copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does James Plummer Jr. move from an impoverished and chaotic life shuffling between the mean streets of New Orleans, Houston and LA and the scramble of backwoods Mississippi to achievement at Stanford and a career as an astrophysicist at NASA? This is the story we all want to hear, right? How brilliance and hard work can overcome any obstacle. This book could be read that way but I think doing so misses the deeper and more interesting story. Oluseyi makes it clear throughout that our country’s systemic racism creates the conditions that keep his family in poverty and ignorance. Negligent public schools, casual racist assumptions about ability and trustworthiness and lack of economic opportunities not only make Oluseyi’s journey a strenuous climb, but destroy the lives of many of his friends and relatives. Undoubtedly, Oluseyi is brilliant and has the good fortune to meet a few people who recognize and promote his abilities, but he makes it clear that many, many equally talented friends are left behind. The writing was clear, unsentimental and had the mark of a scientific mind. As a mother of Black children in STEM fields (biochem, computer science, physics, biology) I will be buying several copies of this to share.

[Karen R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nerdy, poor, cognitively gifted young boy with an IQ off the charts passes time by counting all kinds of things, voraciously reading (including the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica and the Bible!), and dissecting small appliances. He is living an unstable, nomadic life of poverty with a mostly absent father and mother. Oluseyl’s path to becoming an award-winning astrophysicist was a rocky one with twists and turns that could have sent him down the wrong path numerous times. Thank goodness for the mentors and teachers that came into Oluseyl’s life and believed in him. A powerful and inspiring memoir. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Baal Of · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book and an absolutely astounding story of a man overcoming the seemingly insurmountable barriers arrayed against him, including an abusive mother, a father who enabled his descent into drug abuse, and institutionalized racism every step of the way. It is also a lesson in how the conservative call of "people need to just raise themselves up with their own bootstraps" is a dangerous and insulting delusion, which ignores the fact that our society actively pushes people down when they try to do just that.

I heard an interview with Oluseyi on one of my regular podcasts Big Picture Science and I liked his clear and informative way of explaining his work, so I bought this book immediately after. I'm glad that I did.

Some additional thoughts:

being the youngest meant a hunger hole in my belly most of the time. The free lunch at school was the only meal I could count on.

Free school lunches is one of those things that conservatives have wanted to eliminate as long as I can remember, and in fact I argued against them as a kid, and through college, using all the typical arguments that I regurgitated having heard them from my Dad, people at the church, and from peers and teachers. Free lunches were socialist or communist, they were too expensive and a drain on the economy, they prevented people from being self-sufficient, etc. Even now in the Covid era, I just heard a news segment on how deeply impoverished kids are going without food because they don't have access to lunch at school, because school isn't happening. This is deeply shameful for a country with such a massive amount of wealth. There is someone who I once considered a close friend who has posted a couple rants about how he is not in any way privileged, how he has earned everything he has, and refuses to understand or even consider the fact that he has had massive privilege in his life because of the things he did not have to deal with, such as the fact that he had regular, steady access to food. He never had to rely on school lunch as his only food for the day. As a kid I never worried about food. I always had enough to eat, but I never thought about that being a privilege until recently as I started to try to understand the concept more deeply. Oluseyi is a textbook example for why this kind of program is important.

When Oluseyi decided to change his name from James Plummer it's interesting how "Everyone at Stanford congratulated me on my new name" but "When I went back home to Mississippi over Thanksgiving, the response I got from a lot of folks was, 'You still James Plummer to me.'"
I remember when I was younger that I had a lot of scorn for people who changed their given names for whatever reason, especially if they chose names that sounded foreign to me. Now of course my attitude is that is a personal choice and should be respected. Exposure to different perspectives, and a willingness to consider other viewpoints can make a difference.

Also, I learned the meaning of the phrase "dapped him up".

[Valleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC!!

" I learned that the OCD traits I'd been struggling with for the most of my life - the compulsive counting, the need to have things orderly and lined up in neat rows - were actually an asset in a research lab. I could hyperfocus on small, detailed tasks for hours"

A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars has been described as alternately heartbreaking and hopeful - and that it was! Reading of Dr. Oluseyi's childhood was truly heart-wrenching. He grew up with a mother who had mental health issues and who physically abused him. She moved Hakeem and his sister whenever a job made her angry or she had broken up with a boyfriend. I can't imagine what it must have been like to enter new schools once or twice a year - especially as most of those schools were in some of the toughest cities in the country, where Hakeem faced bullying and abuse. There were times of grinding poverty, with little to eat. There were times Hakeem was addicted to crack cocaine.

However, this book is also an epic journey filled with hope. It was determined that Dr. Olusyi had a genius IQ. During high school, he created a computer program that did relativity calculations and it won first prize in physics at the state science fair. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from Stanford University. It was at this time he changed his name from James Plummer, Jr to Hakeem (wise) Muata (he who speaks the truth) Oluseyi (God has done this). A Quantum Life tells of how this amazing man became an astrophysicist, cosmologist, educator, inventor, public speaker, and TV personality.

In case you can't tell, I recommend this book!!

[Dianita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful autobiography. It is a must read for any K-12 teacher or higher education professional to think about the ways we can build on students' backgrounds and support them within challenging situations.

[Ivana · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible memoir, I wish he had gone more in depth about racism and classism that are so prevalent in academia. But nonetheless, an amazing read.

[Kathy (Bermudaonion) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

What an amazing story! James Plummer, Jr. (who later changed his hame to Hakeem Oluseyi) grew up in poverty, was shuffled between parents and relatives, and moved a lot as a child but had an exceptional mind and overcame all of that adversity and more to become the first black astrophysicist to get an undergraduate degree from a historically black college. I was amazed at his intelligence, drive, and determination. Stories like his need to be shared more often. He narrates the audio version of this outstanding book and does a terrific job.

[Kim McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gritty memoir of a man who rose out of a violent and transient childhood to become a scientist for NASA. Instead of falling into a downward spiral of poverty, abuse, violence and drugs Hakeem discovered early on that he had a super power that would save him - he was smart. The more he learned, the more he wanted to understand which got him countless whippings as a kid but gave his curious mind somewhere to go other than the streets. His life was a yo-yo which included gang trouble and drugs but education led him eventually to Stanford and a career at NASA. He is blunt and honest in his accounting of the challenges and triumphs and hopefully his story will inspire young people at a crossroads to succeed and appeal to those who have the power to lift up rather than force down. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring.

[Wendelle]

I first saw Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi being interviewed in Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson's extremely wonderful podcast, and his passion and knowledge of physics, the clarity of his explanations and charisma in science communication, were very evident. This memoir shows his remarkable journey and reveals, as he admits, how improbable it was. He came from the toughest neighborhoods where front of mind was on gang survival and putting food on the table. His mom moved jobs and neighborhoods every year, his dad ran a farm that grew marijuana illicitly then sold it-- according to the principles of honest enterprise. Thus his life had many twists and turns, he was main support for his mom and sister, he went from city to country, he was shortly a precocious preacher at puberty. All throughout, his love for physics and cosmology was constant, but his road has not been easy and the book shows the kind of obstacles to the life of the mind that others leading different lives could not imagine. For example, when professors came to his high school to talk about science competitions, this was incomprehensible to the kids because talk of robot dogs in science leagues was so alien to them. This did not concord with the reality of their daily experiences. When the Navy officer promised him 60k in salary for becoming a nuclear engineering officer, this sum was unimaginable in a family that worked unreliable shifts in factory packing assembly lines, fast food chains, or drug-dealing in the still-segregated South. When other scientists came to his HBCU college to sponsor conferences in MIT, it didn't even occur to them that these types of opportunities were available to them. These episodes show how active outreach can reach future scientists and thought leaders from less privileged communities. Encouragement, mentorship, and doors of opportunity are crucial scaffolding that enabled him to continue his climb in a life of science.
Dr. Oluseyi shows, in this vibrant memoir, the kinds of hardships he had to overcome, from being a teen father in a family of teen pregnancy, to a cocaine addiction he obtained after being introduced to the drug by his own warm but drug-using father. Now his achievements have led him to Stanford, MIT, NASA and beyond, deepening our understanding of the universe.

[Mary Beth M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought Dr. Oluseyi's book because he's so engaging and smart in his television appearances. I had no idea that his life's journey had been so fraught, so torturous. I admit to the feelings of guilt I have because, perhaps, I should have known. I hope that many more white Americans will read his story and learn from it.

Somewhere before the middle of A Quantum Life, while I was still processing the fact that my assumptions about Hakeem Oluseyi were wildly wrong, and when this memoir had barely left his boyhood, he quotes some verses of Edgar Allan Poe that begin "From childhood's hour I have not been /As others were. . ." I had to stop and sob. Though our histories are as different as, well, black and white, there was the poem that spoke to me as a lonely teenager. I still know it by heart.

The memoir establishes how aptly the poem captures Oluseyi's life and character. As a child academically gifted, he's driven to learn however he can. As a teen and young man we see him taking advantage of opportunity again and again - necessarily, since opportunity seems to be something easily snatched away by chance and circumstance. I couldn't have put this story aside for a day. I had to know how he overcame all the obstacles in his way.

Yet having finished it, I'm back in the painful reality that I'm living in, feeling trapped in the social and political systems that produce those obstacles. I was born in the 1950's. I grew up presuming, idealistically, that America was waking up to racism and its destructive - self-destructive - ramifications. I enter my old age fearing that things are worse because half the country seems to think that facing the truth of centuries of black slavery and inequality is too much to ask of white people.

Read this book. As a start.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***

Do you ever just *like* a book? Like, there's no particular reason and nothing that makes you go AHA! That's the magic bit! But it's still just enjoyable and satisfying? That's how this one was for me. Maybe it's because the author and I have gone through parallel life experiences growing up dreaming of becoming scientists while living in places where that is rare at best. We both took the winding road to where we are. His graduate school experience was incredibly relatable for me and I read the parts about his relationship with his advisor with a smile because they reminded me of Doc Wally so much.

I'm glad Hakeem Oluseyi shared his story. Go read it, nerds.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 for the writing (not bad, just nothing special) and 5 for the incredible (true) story.

I read this after having the privilege of seeing Hakeem Oluseyi speak at a conference. He is one of the most gifted public speakers I've ever seen. The book doesn't quite capture his live speaking energy and engagement, but it does go into even more remarkable detail about his life. It's unbelievable to see what he had to overcome to become a prominent physicist and educator.

Some of the drug use and addiction depictions are very uncomfortable to read. They aren't there for shock value, though; they are a part of the story that helps you understand why a serious addiction like that is such a dangerous and desperate situation.

One thing I can't stop thinking about after reading this, is how do you identify someone who is truly brilliant if they are not well educated? On a superficial level I already knew that that these are different traits, but in professional life it is hard to tell them apart. This book is about a remarkable physicist who barely had books around as a child and did not even learn to algebra until he was an adult. A thousand little things could have gone differently that would have made his life take an entirely different course. It's mind blowing. It's the most extreme case I've ever heard of, but it makes you wonder how many people get discounted for far simpler reasons. It also reminds you that being a gifted and positive communicator can be a super power.

[Avolyn Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book, but was absolutely delighted when the publisher reached out because Oluseyi's story gripped me from the synopsis. Growing up in poverty, living in rough neighborhoods and having to fend for himself from day one on the streets, the story is at times heart-wrenching but still manages to grip the reader with hopeful moments of joy and curiosity as we witness Oluseyi's love for reading, science, and space unfold amongst the bleak backdrop of his childhood.

I found this book surprisingly well-written considering the fact that Oluseyi isn't an established writer/author and sometimes autobiographical works written by regular people, can be hard to get into. But in this case I thought Oluseyi's writing was phenomenal and easy to get lost in. It was a page turner and such an incredible journey. I highly recommend picking up a copy if you want to feel inspired.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adding a review only because I feel like many might not pick up this book for fear of not understanding physics or never having heard of this person. I got this book on recommendation from my mother and likely would not have picked it up otherwise.

Hakeem does an amazing job of telling his story. It feels like a fictional novel you just get sucked into about this amazing boy becoming an incredible man against all odds, then you remember this is the writer’s actual life. Even with the physics concepts, for someone who has never taken a physics class, it didn’t deter me at all. I started slow to this book but once I got into it I read 75% of it in two days. Would highly recommend to anyone just as an amazing and inspiring story that happens to be a real amazing person’s life.

[jonathan ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

We need more of this!!!!

We often hear about the life struggles of entertainers and entrepreneurs but rarely about scientists and intellectuals. Similar to Ta-Nehisi Coates experience with becoming a writer (both fiction and nonfiction) Hakeem Oluseyi had a passion for physics and science but was never in the ideal environment. Plus learning about Art Walker was amazing. Now I have to find more material on Hakeem's teacher and mentor as well.

I hope Hakeem Oluseyi creates some more chapters in his amazing journey.

[Ann Kuhn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read but what happened to his wife and their baby? He just disappeared them when he got successful.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look into the struggles of a brilliant black man. Dr Oluseyi vulnerably shared what it was like to be hood, country, academic, and black in a space and time in which racism was well disguised. I am grateful for the insight into his world.
Plus, it was a compelling read! I didn’t want to put it down!

[ktfrns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t put it down!

[Connie Whitcomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!

[Pam S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worthy of an infinite number of stars, highly recommend.

[Pam Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent audio book recommended by a great friend! What a life he has lived already.

[Ethan Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing story

[Paul Vogelzang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Great stories, great life, and a great example to us in perseverance! Thanks, Hakeem, for your excellent book and for being so true to yourself.

[Christie Maliyackel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good, I read it in one 5-hour sitting. It demonstrates the power of hard work, perseverance and advocacy/mentorship. The path this author has taken and where he is today is truly remarkable. Fascinating. Highly recommend for everyone.

Why’d I pick this? Books with Taylor

[Taylor Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hakeem’s story is so inspiring and moving. The tone of the book is perfect—personal and intimate, raw and unflinching. And the balance between his personal life and his interest in science was just right for me. I’ve been thinking about this book nonstop since Saturday and I think readers are really going to connect with Hakeem.

I watched Hakeem’s Ted Talk and a few of his videos online. He’s incredibly charismatic!

I think you'll love this book if you enjoyed movies/books like Hidden Figures, The Theory of Everything, A Beautiful Mind, and The Imitation Game. I think this book will greatly appeal to readers of gritty coming-of-age books like Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi, Rabbit by Patricia Williams, and How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones.

Will be thinking about Hakeem's story for a long time!

[David Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

My introduction to the author and this book came from listening to a podcast ("Big Picture Science") in which he appeared. He told the story of discovering Einstein and his theory of relativity as a child and realizing that he understood the concept of space-time, and then set out to demonstrate it with a skateboard, a rock, and the assistance of some girls from the ‘hood. That anecdote caught my attention, partly because it was colorful and vividly told but also because the demonstration he conceived was so convincingly clear. As an engineer, I had studied Einstein’s theories but struggled with the concept of space-time. If this fellow had indeed understood the concept of space-time from reading an encyclopedia entry as a fifth grader and had been immediately able to see how to demonstrate it, he definitely was remarkable.
Reading his book confirmed how remarkable Hakeem Oluseyi is, as well as how unlikely his success was. Heck, it is almost literally unbelievable that he survived his childhood, let alone that he was able to make his way from a life of abject Southern poverty to a small Black college and almost magically obtain admission to Stanford, and to earn a PhD.
The writing style of this book is bluntly graphic in its portrayal of the poverty, racism, educational deprivation, addictions, and broken families in Hakeem’s life and the lives of so many other poor Blacks from the Deep South. His language is often that of the street, graphic and uncomfortable (for me) to read. But using that language helped to make the story vivid and real in a way that I do not think I have encountered before. The conditions he and his peers and family faced in school and in their communities are so terrible, so destructive, so demeaning, so poor in both material things and in spirit that they beggar belief. I’ve had an intellectual understanding of such conditions, but this book strengthened my visceral knowledge.
At times, the narrative seems almost boastful about Hakeem’s intelligence and accomplishments. But I am not sure there was a way to tell the story without describing those accomplishments and his successes. He certainly did not spare us when he described his failures and near-misses, the disappointments, and the personal tragedies. There were daunting traps, detours, and outright threats to his survival, as well as formidable challenges to his intellectual development, all well-described in this convincing narrative. This is ultimately an uplifting story, with moments of happiness and periods of personal growth and achievement. But it illustrates how unlikely the outcome was and is for so many other people from similar circumstances.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son-in-law, who loves space, suggested I would enjoy A Quantum Life. Of course, I'm going to read a book suggested by my son-in-law. I listened to the audio version of this book which was read by the author. When you have to ration how much you can listen to daily because you need to get other work done, you know it is a great book. I could hardly wait to listen to the next portion of the book the next day.

This is a Cinderella story. It's so highly improbable yet it's all true. I was recommending A Quantum Life to friends as I was halfway through listening, saying 'I have no idea how this guy gets to astrophysics from where he is right now in this book, as I absolutely can not imagine it.' I honestly think this book could save lives, or at a minimum, make the most of them.
I appreciated the tour of America's toughest neighborhoods, backwoods Mississippi, and laughed with astonishment when the author toured Stanford and wondered why no one was eating the squirrels. As an educator a couple things I deeply appreciated in this book is the very strong descriptions of a 'poverty of print' in low-income households. You could just feel the hunger for more learning and knowledge and the lack of having nothing to read. I also appreciated the explanations of how outside tutoring and solving assigned problems as a team outside of class are ways to be at a higher level than the actual class materials. These descriptions are necessary for students who want to grow up and achieve at this level Dr. Hakeem did. It would never have occured to my parents to get me an outside tutor growing up such was their faith in the public schools.

The most beautiful part of this book is the description of what a difference a grad student's sponsoring professor can make in someone's life. I ended the book crying for a Solar Physics professor I've never met in such appreciation for his greatest work: launching the next generation of astrophyscists. I recommend this title strongly, especially as an audiobook.

[Thus Kvothe The Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some memoirs are less than honest looks at the author’s past. Some are self-aggrandizing or simply a vehicle to let you know how important the author thinks they are. Others are droll strolls through the gently rolling hills of an unremarkable past. “A Quantum Life” is the other type; one which is brutally honest about bad decisions, ugly family dynamics, and the realities of growing up black in the United States.

There are bright points in this stellar look into the rear view mirror of Dr. of Astrophysics Oluseyi’s life. We see color through the comedic lens he often uses. He and Horwitz can turn a phrase! Many times my wife looked at me sideways because of a sudden burst of laughter coming from my side of the bed.

Warmth also reaches us because of the vulnerability the author shows. Many of the events Oluseyi experienced were unpleasant or downright tragic. He even made some colossally boneheaded decisions, but did not shrink away from their telling or their consequences.

For “A Quantum Life” I give five stars. There is a sense of wonder imparted to the reader, and not merely because of the scientific discoveries in which the author takes part. We get a view into a complicated life that has a broad spectrum of experiences and potential for either great achievements or a meteoric fall. You’ll have to read it for yourself to see which occurs.

My thanks to Ballantine books. The opinions expressed are my own.