Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaung. The folks over at NPR Science

podcast, Shortwave, did this interview recently with scientist Camilla Pang that I've been chewing on.

Camilla has autism, ADHD, and generalized anxiety disorder. And she wrote this book called

An Outsiders God to Humans, What Science taught me about what

we do and who we are. It's basically an instruction manual for human behavior. The interview

takes on two topics from the book. One is how thermodynamics explains perfectionism. And it's done

in this super-sciencey way that don't worry, it still makes sense to non-science

people like me.

And the other is comparing fear to light.

And it's that second one I'm still working out in my head, trying to figure out if I'm

fully on board with it.

And as you'll hear in this interview, so is Pang herself.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky

conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on

the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter

here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Before she got a PhD and became a scientist, before she wrote an award-winning memoir.

Camilla Pang was just a kid collecting leaves in her family's garden.

I love being in the garden, just starting my science journey by observing things that had no significance to me in the same way that others did.

And it was in that garden in Wales that Camilla asked her mom a question that had been

bothering her. This is how she starts her memoir.

...