First published 2026
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan transforms complex physics into a lens for examining their personal journey from war-torn Croatia to becoming a science writer in New York. Born in 1991 during the Yugoslav conflicts, they discovered both science and heavy metal music before accepting a boarding school opportunity in America at sixteen. The author applies different physics principles to key moments in their life story. They explore knot theory while recounting a visit to a Croatian healer. They connect ultracold atom research to society's expectations that women should be warm and nurturing. An electron microscope becomes the framework for understanding their relationship with makeup as they recognized their nonbinary identity. Each chapter pairs a physics concept with a personal experience, showing how scientific principles can illuminate human struggles with identity, belonging, and self-discovery. The book traces their path through academia as a nonbinary person in a field dominated by straight, cisgender men, while examining themes of destiny, causation, and the multiple paths a life can take.
Genres: gender-studies, coming-of-age, autobiography, memoir, biography-memoir, physics, gender-identity, academic
Vibes: intimate, personal, thought-provoking
Tropes: identity-journey, personal-growth, self-discovery
Setting: Croatia, New York
Period: 1991, Yugoslav Conflicts
248 pages · Hardcover · Beacon Press