Mario Livio is an astrophysicist curious about science and art… and curiosity itself! In this book he explores the questions What is it that triggers curiosity? and What are the underlying mechanisms of curiosity and exploration? This is a well-researched and easy to read book about curiosity. I found it fascinating and it left me with lots more things to be curious about!
The first chapter asks What is curiosity? considering different types, and different experiences, of curiosity, with lots of fascinating examples of individuals who are uniquely curious, or curious about surprising things.
Not surprisingly given Livio’s two main interests, science and art, he uses Leonardo Da Vinci and Richard Feynman as the primary examples of extremely curious people in chapters 2 and 3.
In chapter 4 Livio considers the “information gap” theory of curiosity, and provides a thorough overview of psychological research on curiosity in the last half-century. He considers the relationship between curiosity and knowledge, uncertainty, surprise, and anxiety. However, he notes that much of the research does not incorporate curiosity as a source of pleasure in and of itself. This is the focus of chapter 5: intrinsic love of knowledge. This chapter discusses curiosity as a personality trait, and considers the developmental role of curiosity in babies and children. Chapter 6 explores the neuroscience of curiosity, and in particular the role of dopamine. It also discusses the relationship between curiosity and reward, memory, and willpower.
In chapter 7 Livio compares human curiosity with that of animals, and curiosity’s role in evolution.
Chapter 8 Livio reports on his interviews with some esteemed ‘curious minds’: physicist Freeman Dyson, astronaut Story Musgrave, polymath Noam Chomsky, physicist Fabiola Gianotti, cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees, Queen lead guitarist and PhD in astrophysics Brian May, the person who holds the world’s highest IQ Marilyn vos Savant, paleontologist John “Jack” Horner, and Brazilian sculptor Vik Muniz.
The final chapter considers the history of curiosity, including times when it was valued and times when it was seen to be dangerous or sacreligious. It also argues that curiosity is the antidote to fear, and that we should learn to nourish it, both internally and in others. The epilogue considers the role of the internet on curiosity (both in promoting it and eroding our capacity to be curious).
