Table of Contents

Preface: Our Story ix
A Brief Note on Visual Media xiii
Introduction: A New Vantage Point 1
1 The Science of Curiosity 19
2 Curiosity as Edgework 45
3 The Network Paradigm 65
4 Curiosity's Got Style 95
5 Webs of Knowledge 115
6 Curiosity Takes a Walk 147
7 Your Brain on Curiosity 169
8 Reimagining Education 197
Conclusion: On Curious Futures 219
Appendix: A Curious Bestiary 233
Acknowledgments 247
Notes 251
Index 281

About the Author

Perry Zurn is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at American University. He is the author of Curiosity and Power- The Politics of Inquiry.

Dani S. Bassett is J. Peter Skirkanich Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. They are the author of more than 300 scientific research articles in neuroscience, physics, network science, and complex systems science.

Reviews

"What exactly is curiosity? Where does it come from and how does it work? In a manuscript peppered with questions, [Perry Zurn and Dani Bassett] explore everything from Plutarch to Google algorithms… Neither Zurn nor Bassett are technically historians, but you wouldn’t know it from reading their book... In fact, the book is outlandishly multidisciplinary… Curious Minds also keenly explores whose curiosity is encouraged and whose is policed – the twins examine marginalization, power and privilege throughout the book." 
—The Observer (UK)


“Refreshingly different. It radically reframes the elusive concept of curiosity in a way that elevates it to a new epistemological level…Intellectually and aesthetically deeply satisfying, [Zurn and Bassett] travel between the realms of art, neuroscience, history, philosophy, literature, psychology, sociology—you name it—shining an intriguing light on a subject that gets usually seen only through the narrow lens of a single discipline…Beautiful, almost poetic writing… An enlightening and inspiring read.”
—Developing Leaders Quarterly