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Curious Minds

How a Child Becomes a Scientist

How a Child Becomes a Scientist

Edited by John Brockman

Edited by John Brockman

By John Brockman

By John Brockman

Best Seller
Paperback $18.00

Sep 13, 2005 | ISBN 9781400076864

Ebook $14.99

Aug 31, 2004 | ISBN 9780375423420

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    Curious Minds by
    Paperback $18.00
    Sep 13, 2005 | ISBN 9781400076864

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    • $18.00

      Sep 13, 2005 | ISBN 9781400076864

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Aug 31, 2004 | ISBN 9780375423420

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    About Curious Minds

    What makes a child decide to become a scientist?

    •For Robert Sapolsky–Stanford professor of biology–it was an argument with a rabbi over a passage in the Bible.
    •Physicist Lee Smolin traces his inspiration to a volume of Einstein’s work, picked up as a diversion from heartbreak.
    •Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist and the author of Flow, found his calling through Descartes.

    Murray Gell-Mann, Nicholas Humphrey, Freeman Dyson . . . 27 scientists in all write about what it was that sent them on the path to their life’s work. Illuminating memoir meets superb science writing in stories that invite us to consider what it is–and what it isn’t–that sets the scientific mind apart.

    About Curious Minds

    What makes a child decide to become a scientist?

    •For Robert Sapolsky–Stanford professor of biology–it was an argument with a rabbi over a passage in the Bible.
    •Physicist Lee Smolin traces his inspiration to a volume of Einstein’s work, picked up as a diversion from heartbreak.
    •Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist and the author of Flow, found his calling through Descartes.

    Murray Gell-Mann, Nicholas Humphrey, Freeman Dyson . . . 27 scientists in all write about what it was that sent them on the path to their life’s work. Illuminating memoir meets superb science writing in stories that invite us to consider what it is–and what it isn’t–that sets the scientific mind apart.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

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    About John Brockman

    John Brockman is a cultural impresario whose career has encompassed the avant-garde art world, science, books, software, and the Internet. The founder and publisher of the online salon Edge.org, he is the editor of the Edge Question book series, which includes This Idea is Brilliant, Know… More about John Brockman

    About John Brockman

    John Brockman is a cultural impresario whose career has encompassed the avant-garde art world, science, books, software, and the Internet. The founder and publisher of the online salon Edge.org, he is the editor of the Edge Question book series, which includes This Idea is Brilliant, Know… More about John Brockman

    Product Details

    Category: Biography & Memoir

    Paperback | $18.00
    Published by Vintage
    Sep 13, 2005 | 256 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9781400076864

    Category: Biography & Memoir

    Ebook | $14.99
    Published by Vintage
    Aug 31, 2004 | 256 Pages | ISBN 9780375423420

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    Praise

    “Fascinating . . . An invigorating debate.” –The Washington Post Book World“And intriguing collection of essays . . . full of comical and thought-provoking stories.” –Psychology Today“Quirky, absorbing and persuasive in just the way that good stories are.” –Nature“In this superlative collection . . . scientists–who also happen to be splendid writers–discuss what first attracted them to careers in science. . . . Inspiring.” –Sci Fi Magazine“Revealing accounts and entertaining reading.” –Science News“Compelling . . . rather than revealing a secret formula that produces an adult scientist, this collection proves just how disparate are the ingredients. . . . Idiosyncrasies are, in the end, what gives the collection its kick.” –Discover“Forget algebra camp–a scientist’s life can also begin with Gilligan’s Island or the James Bond movie Thunderball . . . Entertaining stories.” –Popular Science“[An] engrossing treat of a book . . . crammed with hugely enjoyable anecdotes.” –New Scientist

    Table Of Contents

    Acknowledgments
    Introduction

    Nicholas Humphrey A Family Affair
    David M. Buss The Bungling Apprentice
    Robert M. Sapolsky Mountain Gorilla and Yeshiva Boy
    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Safety in Numbers
    Murray Gell-Mann My Father and Albert Einstein
    Alison Gopnik A Midcentury Modern Education
    Paul C. W. Davies Cosmology Calls
    Freeman J. Dyson Member of the Club
    Lee Smolin A Strange Beautiful Girl in a Car
    Steven Pinker How We May Have Become What We Are
    Mary Catherine Bateson Patterns and the Participant Observer
    Lynn Margulis Mixing It Up
    Jaron Lanier A Childhood Between Realities
    Richard Dawkins Dolittle and Darwin
    Howard Gardner One Way ofMaking a Social Scientist
    Joseph Ledoux Brains Through the Back Door
    Sherry Turkle The Objects of Our Lives
    Marc d. Hauser Intellectual Promiscuity
    Ray Kurzweil Tom Swift Jr. and the Power of Ideas
    Janna Levin A Day in the Life of a Child
    Rodney Brooks Toward the Worm
    J. Doyne Farmer The Everyday Practice of Physics in Silver City, New Mexico
    Steven Strogatz The Math of the Real World
    Tim White At Large in the Mountains
    V. S. Ramachandran The Making of a Scientist
    Daniel C. Dennett What I Want to Be When I Grow Up
    Judith Rich Harris The Gift of Solitude

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