Clár-Bríd Tohill reviews Starstruck by Sarafina El-Badry Nance
When I was a girl, I was fascinated by science but had few – if any – female astrophysicists to look up to. As a woman in physics today, I know just how important it is to have a strong, empowering female role model to aspire to. Sarafina El-Badry Nance – currently doing graduate work in astrophysics and cosmology at the University of California, Berkeley – is exactly the kind of person I wish I’d known when I was growing up.
Starstuck: a Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark describes the challenging – yet often unseen – road that unfortunately all too many women have to journey along to succeed. The path that El-Badry Nance followed to become the powerful and inspirational scientist she is today was fraught with challenges and doubt, yet she never quit or lost sight of her dream. Brilliantly weaving together El-Badry Nance’s personal story with our understanding of astronomy, Starstruck explains how she found freedom and solace in exploring the universe.
The book begins by describing the author’s love and passion for the night sky, which began as a child growing up in Austin, Texas. But the challenges she had to contend with at home and school quickly become apparent. Born to an Egyptian mother and an American father, El-Badry Nance faced both racism and sexism – and, like many women, was repeatedly told that girls were not cut out for science and maths. This bigotry led to huge amounts of anxiety and self-doubt.
While her parents’ relationship with each other caused much of her childhood trauma, El-Badry Nance was privileged to attend a school that helped her deal with her anxiety. The school, which was private, gave her access to opportunities that other people facing similar challenges might not have, letting her pursue her passion for astronomy. Her parents also helped El-Badry Nance to counteract the bigotry she faced from her teachers and peers.
Starstruck is a book that many women will relate to. But it is nonetheless an important tale to tell
Crucially, El-Badry Nance now recognizes her privilege and uses the platform it gave her to communicate the excitement of science – and the simple truth that it is a subject open for everyone. Indeed, despite the traumas of her childhood, the author ended up doing a degree in physics and astrophysics at the University of Texas, Austin, although even there she faced more sexism and misogyny from both her peers and professors.
Starstruck is a book that many women will relate to. But it is nonetheless an important tale to tell for we cannot begin to make progress on sexism in science without raising awareness of just how widespread this issue is. Worse still, the author was also subject to an abusive relationship during her degree. Her abuser took advantage of her insecurities, tormenting her both during their relationship and afterwards too.
This abuse took its toll both physically and mentally on El-Badry Nance, repressing her passion for astronomy. Thankfully, with help from a therapist and her family, she was able to escape this hell and learn how to heal. This part of the book is difficult to read, but it is what makes El-Badry Nance the woman she is today. The strength and resilience she has had to show are extraordinary – and will inspire many others who have faced similar experiences of their own.
If the Milky Way could talk, what would it say?
El-Badry Nance’s hard work and passion for astronomy eventually saw her accept an offer from Berkeley’s graduate programme. Rewarded after years of anxiety and hard work, she was now able to realize the dream she had harboured since childhood of being a professional scientist. But there was more trouble in store: first, her father was diagnosed with cancer and then she was too.
El-Badry Nance had the misfortune of inheriting a genetic mutation that affected her grandmother, her father and now her. Aged just 23, El-Badry Nance was told she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. It was pretty much a case of when – not if – the cancer would appear, and the author was forced to make one of the hardest and bravest decisions of her life: to get a preventative double mastectomy.
Since her double mastectomy, El-Badry Nance has used her position of influence to bring awareness to breast cancer and the importance of self-testing to a wider audience
Since the operation, El-Badry Nance has used her position of influence online to bring awareness to this horrendous disease and the importance of self-testing to a wider audience. However, her inspirational story has only just begun. As well as doing a PhD in astronomy at Berkeley, she is also training as an “analogue astronaut” on a Mars simulation facility in Hawai’i.
Despite the anxiety and self-doubt she has faced, the book is an uplifting tale of passion, resilience and strength. El-Badry Nance is a remarkable young woman, using her past experiences to help others who might be struggling with their own lives. Still healing from her own trauma, she is a force to be reckoned with and I am looking forward to seeing what she will do next. For Sarafina El-Badry Nance, the sky really is the limit.
- 2023 Dutton 336pp £20.99/$29.00hb