A young astrophysicist’s fire was ignited by the gift of a book

“We’re curious people. Humans are curious. We want to understand things. And for me personally, there’s no greater thing to understand than the universe itself and the parts that make it up.”
— Anna O’Grady

Today’s quote comes from a recent CBC article by former colleague Elizabeth Whitten about an aspiring astrophysicist who grew up here in St. John’s. I was drawn to Anna O’Grady’s above quote, which is about curiosity, passion and learning.

I was also struck by details in the story that underscore how important it is to fire up a young kid’s imagination.

O’Grady said her parents always encouraged her to be curious, but she can recall in Grade 8 shopping with her mother at the Chapters bookstore in St. John’s and spotting a large astronomy book on the bargain table.

Since she was holiday shopping for other people, she put it down but said her mother noticed her interest and the book ended up beneath the Christmas tree.

“I absolutely inhaled the book,” O’Grady said, and it led her to the NASA website, reading what she could, and she became hooked.