This year is my “No-Buy Year,” so I’m trying (and mostly succeeding!) to cut way back on buying books in any form. I already have so many that I haven’t read! So right now I’m going through a backlog of Audible books on my now-defunct account. (I switched to Libro.fm last year to support local indie bookstores with my audiobook purchases. Highly recommend!) 
A benefit of the No-Buy Year is rediscovering the myriad things you previously thought highly enough of to purchase, but then shortly forgot about. This little gem is definitely one of those purchases I was excited to (re)discover.
Writer/Lecturer/Doctor Erin Macdonald is an astrophysicist who focused a lot of her research on gravitational waves, I believe, before moving into the speaking circuit. In this audiobook, which is a series of lectures, she lays some basic astrophysics foundations and then examines big themes in sci-fi and the real science surrounding them. She is a gifted teacher; her enthusiasm and knowledge both come through in her voice, her sci-fi references, and in her general positivity about what is still to come in science.
If you are big ol’ nerd like me, you will appreciate the breadth and depth of sci-fi references x uses. Star Trek of all ilks is a frequent flyer, as is Futurama, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect (my personal favorite), and more. Science-wise, Star Trek Voyager and Futurama get a lot of nods for their faithfulness and creativity. What I love about Dr. Macdonald bringing in these pop culture examples is that rather than well actually-ing the stuff shows get wrong, she uses it to bring up interesting real facts, theories, and related ideas.
I don’t think it’s possible to have a spoiler on facts, so here goes: One of my favorite things that Dr. Macdonald does is to observe how much of what was science fiction is now reality. Datapads, commlinks, reusable rockets, the internet, 3D printing – so much of what would’ve seemed like fantasy or magic decades ago is now our normal reality. That makes me optimistic about the cool stuff in space travel and tech that is still to come for us.
Some quick googling showed that Dr. Macdonald is now a consultant for the Star Trek universe (get it) of shows! You can also find out more about science and sci-fi from her on her YouTube channel.
3.5/5
