The importance of being interested : adventures in scientific curiosity / Robin Ince.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ince, Robin, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--Social aspects.

Science.

Science in popular culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (240 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Atlantic Books, 2021.

Summary:

***A Waterstones Best Paperback of 2022 pick*** Perfect for fans of Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage and Professor Brian Cox. 'A delightful and scintillating hymn to science.' Professor Carlo Rovelli Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. But, twenty years later, he fell in love and he now presents one of the world's most popular science podcasts. Every year he meets hundreds of the world's greatest thinkers.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.

Contents:

Cover

Title

Copyright

Contents

Foreword by Professor Brian Cox

Introduction: The Stars Your Destination

Chapter 1: Scepticism - From the Maelstrom of Knowledge into the Labyrinth of Doubt

Chapter 2: Is God on Holiday? - Are There Still Enough Gaps for a God?

Chapter 3: Armchair Time-Travel - Putting Out Your Beach Blanket on the Sands of Time

Chapter 4: Big, Isn't It? - On Coping with the Size of the Universe

Chapter 5: Escape Velocity - On Looking Back at the Planet from a Height

Chapter 6: Why Aren't They Here? Or Are They…? - On Waiting for Our Alien Saviours

Chapter 7: Swinging from the Family Tree - Inviting Yeast to the Family Reunion

Chapter 8: The Mind Is a Chaos of Delight - On the Matter of Grey Matter

Chapter 9: Reality, What a Concept - Can Anything Be What It Seems?

Chapter 10: Imagining There's No Heaven - On Being Finite

Chapter 11: More Important than Knowledge - On the Necessity of Imagination

Chapter 12: So It Goes - Facing Up to the End of Everything

Afterword

Notes

Acknowledgements.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781786492630

1786492636

OCLC:

1269224415