Space for Different Perspectives

When most people think of dyslexia, they think of difficulties in reading and writing. But while this is correct, it isn’t the full picture. In this episode, Maggie Aderin is on a journey of discovery. After an adult diagnosis of dyslexia, she is attempting to understand how her own life and work have been affected by the condition. And to do so, she will seek out scientists at the very top of their game, utilising a whole constellation of dyslexic traits in their own research.

Along the way, she heads to the Open University, where PhD candidate Jessica Hogan studies the vents of the icy moon Enceladus from a lab here on Earth. This involves an ingenious set-up, using a vacuum chamber to mimic the freezing, low-pressure environment of Enceladus in an attempt to understand its mysterious hidden oceans – and maybe, to aid in the search for alien life. But how has her enhanced problem solving, a trait associated with dyslexia, aided in the engineering of her experiments?

Maggie also visits the University of Cambridge, where Dr Floor van Donkelaar works to understand the mass distribution in very young galaxies. These cosmic toddlers have been throwing out some big surprises – they are much ‘clumpier’ and uneven than expected, and Floor’s research could be key to improving our understanding of how the universe evolved. Maggie discovers that visual thinking, another trait reported as a strength amongst many dyslexics, may be aiding Floor in her investigations.

Stepping away from space science for a moment, Maggie meets up with Dr Helen Taylor. Helen’s research crosses academic boundaries, taking in evolutionary anthropology, psychology and neuroscience, seeking to look at dyslexia differently. She has theorised that dyslexia is a consequence of human cognitive evolution, which has expanded our species’ capacity to gather information and evolve into the societies we live in today.

And finally, Maggie heads to one of the UK’s most secure and secretive facilities, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). The centre of Britain’s signals and cyber intelligence efforts, part of GCHQ's job is to protect us from threats from space. Here, she meets a real-life spy, and fellow dyslexic, from whom Maggie learns why GCHQ actively recruit from the neurodivergent population. His pattern recognition skills aren’t just keeping us safe but are also used in his personal joy in looking up at the skies.

From computational astrophysics, to engineering, to secret intelligence work, the programme reveals how diverse ways of thinking are helping us to explore the universe and uncover its greatest mysteries.