Perry Zurn

Curious Minds, from twins Perry Zurn and Dani S Bassett, is an intriguing examination of curiosity and a more connected way of thinking about it than is usual.

I found myself reading and nodding along, so much of what they say are things we might (sorta) already think or know, but not in the way they present them. In other words, they connect these ideas and approaches in different ways, often in different ways within the same chapter. They ask us, yes, genuinely ask us, to consider whether show more some idea might be one thing or another, or perhaps something altogether different. If you are the type of person who is curious and is always applying ideas from one area in a different area, you will find yourself in deep discussion with this book. If there is a danger, it is that the reader may go off on so many thought trains that they might not make it back to the station. But that is just fine, do what I did, reread the book and take a few more trips.

One thought came to me several times while reading. When I taught I used to tell students not to just understand the text they were reading but to think about it in relation to other topics and areas. I asked them to synthesize what they were reading in my course with what they were doing in other courses, and even with what they did in their free time. In a way this is similar, be curious and make connections, don't worry too much about what imaginary lines you're crossing. A nice example was a paper on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde using Le Chatelier's Principle as a frame.

I would highly recommend this to those who want to know more about how we think curiosity works as well as those who want some prompts for thinking on your own. This is truly an interactive book.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less