> In only a year and a half she went from pre-algebra to grad QM while being a writer at NYT

I found this hard to believe, so I looked it up. It appears she _did_ go from pre-algebra to grad quantum within a short time [1], but that was many years before she joined NYTimes in 2018.

[1] https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2016/8/26/from-the-fledgli...