The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity

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This book is not for reading in one sitting - well, not for me! I've been reading a chapter (an essay), then reading something fluffy in between. That way, what Robin says can sink into my brain, which has always struggled with science. I also want to know "why", but the maths involved gets me every time! It's nice to know that I'm not alone, and Robin can explain things so that I can understand them. A fascinating, and fabulous read.

I found my love for science through curiosity and I’m now a scientist so, guess anyone can overcome their preconceived high school dislike of science. What it did give was some very interesting and personal viewpoints fromany different scientists in many different fields. Not just spewing facts but also going into philosophy and making you think about questions of mortality, life after death, religion, consciousness etc.Really? Even today, within a given country, let alone around the world, lust and jealousy, never mind the structures around them, can vary an awful lot. Would an Egyptian marriage be so very recognisable to us, or ours to them, when our own relationships are strange enough to each other to keep Channels 4 and 5 in large chunks of regular programming? If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us In a sense, that searching for connection and common ground is one of the main threads running through the book. Often, I loved it, as when Ince tweaks the nose of human exceptionalism by not only detailing but relishing our demonstrably close kinship not just to apes, or even other higher life, but with organisms right down to the level of yeast. Elsewhere, though, it can occasionally lapse into a false and cloying universalism. I adore the idea of an archaeologist proposing in front of a picture of a pharaoh and his bride, because these were people who had pledged to be together for eternity, and she wanted that same commitment. And maybe Egyptian love poetry really is impressively sexy, though we're told rather than shown as much. But then we get the point this is used to illustrate: "Just as the laws of the universe lead to the principle of uniformitarianism, so the principles of human lust and jealousy show that being human throughout time has not been so very different, simply because we didn't have smartphones and sandwich toasters." Tutoring in the writing center at University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2009 has given me a great gift: it has shown me the power of being interested. In anything, or anyone. In the next student signed up to meet with me and whatever project they’re working on. At the same time, as a graduate student in English literature at UW-Madison, I’ve also learned a lot about the corresponding power of being interesting. Brilliant. Loved this selection of essays on science - struggling with trying to understand the deepest parts of all subjects when this is so not your thing. I completely relate! You want to know more about how things work / why they happen, etc. and you end up in a rabbit hole of exploration. Absolutely fascinating.

A real love letter to science, and very, very Robin Ince. It occasionally rambles along in an entertaining way, is driven by science fact, but allows (plenty of) room for alternative views, respect and understanding. And imagination, there's a whole chapter on that. Many people think science is for ‘others’. For people with an Einstein level IQ and those who were born with a quantum physics book in their hand. But science is everyone’s. Robin really goes a long way to show that and this book is beyond perfect to rekindle a curiosity in science. It can enrich your life and how you think, and can be nothing but a benefit to those who retain their curiosity about the world and the universe through science.In this erudite and witty book, Robin reveals why scientific wonder isn’t just for the professionals. Filled with interviews featuring astronauts, comedians, teachers, quantum physicists, neuroscientists and more – as well as charting Robin’s own journey with science – The Importance of Being Interested explores why many wrongly think of the discipline as distant and difficult. From the glorious appeal of the stars above to why scientific curiosity can encourage much needed intellectual humility, this optimistic and profound book will leave you filled with a thirst for intellectual adventure. With razor-sharp wit and insight, Robin slices into the biggest questions of our time. The Importance of Being Interested left me smiling and thinking more deeply' - Commander Chris Hadfield, astronaut and bestselling author And even writing-center-led writing retreats, which provide quiet, focused time to make progress on a project, are made productive by mutual interest. Each being interested in our own thing together feels different than being interested in your own thing alone in a library cubicle.

From the glorious appeal of the stars above to why scientific curiosity can encourage much needed intellectual humility, this optimistic and profound book will leave you filled with a thirst for intellectual adventure. About Robin Ince

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I found this book super interesting. I wasn't sure what I was getting into before reading apart from some classic Robin Ince comedy. Michelle Niemann is the assistant director of the writing center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 2013-2014. Her first tutoring experience was in the writing center at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, in 2003 and 2004. She recently defended her dissertation and will receive her PhD in English literature from UW-Madison in May. Michelle bird-watching at Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin. Photo by Liz Vine.

Whether it’s about conspiracy theories and questioning our information, on the topics of science and religion, the vastness of the universe, aliens or about our place in the universe, there’s definitely something in here for everyone to get your brain firing and your curiosity peaked. The chapter about life and death was so beautifully written and so well done. I’ve learned a lot by being interested in writers and their projects—not least how I can cultivate my capacity to be interested, and why I should. In the last two or three years, I’ve become an avid birder. I’m not the “big year” sort—I don’t even keep a life list—but I very much enjoy watching and identifying birds. And being interested in birds has made me more attentive. Coots on Lake Mendota in Madison. Reflections on writing center practice, research, and theory from the students, staff, alumni, and friends of the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Recent CommentsThe book is about science and curiosity, but it's incredibly rambling. Ideas aren't pursued before he spins off. He just gets beneath the surface on a topic, then wham, he's off quoting somebody and heading in a different direction. Robin mentions the "tangential nature of my jabbering" when on-stage, and I imagine it works well with a live audience. On paper , it feels unfleshed out. About the Author: Robin Ince is co-presenter of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, The Infinite Monkey Cage. He has won the Time Out Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, was nominated for a British Comedy Award for Best Live show, and has won three Chortle Awards. He has toured his stand up across the world from Oslo to LA to Sydney, both solo and with his radio double act partner, Professor Brian Cox. In recent years researchers have begun to build a science of interest, investigating what interest is, how interest develops, what makes things interesting, and how we can cultivate interest in ourselves and others. They are finding that interest can help us think more clearly, understand more deeply, and remember more accurately. Interest has the power to transform struggling performers, and to lift high achievers to a new plane. Parents and educators can also promote the development of kids’ interests by demonstrating their own passion for particular subjects. A study of 257 professional musicians, for example, found that most important characteristics of the musicians’ first teachers (and, of course, parents are often kids’ first teachers) was the ability to communicate well—to be friendly, chatty, and encouraging—and the ability to pass on their own love of music, through modeling and playing well. Try sharing your own personal interests with young people through casual conversations, hands-on demonstrations, and special trips. And as for your second question about using curiosity to engage undergrads who might not be interested in the essay they are writing, I feel like it often happens that my questions give unenthusiastic writers (or even resistant ones, as I describe in the post) permission to grab hold of what they’re saying in a paper. But I’d love to hear more from you, or from others, about this—have there been times where your curiosity motivated a student? Or situations in which expressions of interest did not work to motivate a student?