Curious Minds

“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

Perry Zurn is Associate 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.

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