This memoir of the renowned astrophysicist tells the story of how he overcame his personal demons, including an impoverished childhood and life of crime as well as an addiction to crack cocaine and entrenched racism.

A bookish nerd is a soft target, and James Plummer faced years of bullying and abuse. 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. The promise of a bright future in the physics PhD program at Stanford University was dulled by a dangerous crack cocaine habit he developed in college and the entrenched racism and classism of the scientific establishment. With the encouragement of his mentor he seized his dream of a life in astrophysics, and adopted a new name, Hakeem Muata Oluseyi, to honor his African ancestors. Here he shares his quest across an ever-expanding universe filled with entanglement and choice. -- adapted from jacket