Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything

Curiosity has motivated man ever since he crawled out of caves. Recently, a number of authors have chosen curiosity to express the importance of wanting to know. Philip Ball, who has established himself with a rather prolific writing career, delving into a vast variety of topics, has launched Curiosity. The subtitle says it all: “How Science Became Interested in Everything.”

Ball does not dwell on a particular concept. Instead, he collects vast and different concepts and compiles them under a single theme. By approaching science in this manner, avid readers find considerable diversion in thought as Ball romps through the many-faceted storehouses of scientific thinking.

The book is well-documented and exciting, driving the reader to unexpected vistas. His clever approach to complex scientific concepts is hypnotizing, directing our intellectual selves to fresh ideas and new horizons. This book must be read and appreciated.

Ball is eclectic, reaching out to scientific concerns from Molecular Worlds and Chemistry at the Frontier to New Materials for The Twenty-First Century. It seems as though Philip Ball touches on everything in his writings, and now manages to arrange them in a single volume, giving readers a sense of the workings of his subtitle.