Curiosity is the pillar for developing a scientific mind.
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- “You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you’re finished, you’ll know absolutely nothing whatsoever about the bird… So let’s look at the bird and see what it’s doing- that’s what counts.” – Richard Feynman
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- “A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for. Sail out to sea and do new things.” – Grace Hopper
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- “The desire to know is natural to good men.” – Leonardo daVinci
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- “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
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- “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” – Carl Sagan
We are all born naturally curious about the world. I believe, as do many other individuals that curiosity is the pillar for developing a scientific mind. Throughout the years a number of extraordinary scientists have attributed their achievement in the scientific world to their innate and insatiable curiosity. Leonardo daVinci (1452-1519), Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Richard Feynman (1918-1988), Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992), and Carl Sagan (1934- 1996) all famous scientists with one common characteristic amongst them; curiosity. As a child and throughout his entire life Leonardo was intensely curious about the world around him. He was fascinated with nature, and was always asking questions, and searching for the answers to his questions. Kenneth Clark in Leonardo da Vinci called Leonardo “undoubtedly the most curious man who ever lived.” Like daVinci, Einstein’s innate curiosity helped him to solve problems, find solutions, and to develop new questions to explore. As Einstein once said, “I have no special gift- I am only passionately curious” (Hoffman). Richard Feynman is considered to be the ultimate physicist and the greatest science lecturer of all time. He was admired for his wit, intelligence, independent thinking, and most of all is never-ending curiosity. Like daVinci and Einstein, Feynman too was a curious character. Inventor Dr. Grace Murray Hopper who lead the team that invented COBOL (Common Buisness- Oriented Language), the first user friendly business computer software program was taking apart clocks and other household objects at the age of seven. Her intellectual curiousity would play an integral part in earning Grace Murray Hoppper a place among the ranks of the most famous women inventors and scientists. Lastly, from an early age Carl Sagan had an infinite desire to explore the universe, like the aforementioned Sagan too was a curious individual.
The five individuals mentioned in this entry are just a small sampling of the many scientists that credit their intellectual capabilities and scientific discoveries in part to their never-ending curiosity about the world around them. So what can we as parents, educators, and business leaders learn from this group of scientists? We need to realize the influence that curiosity has on intellectual development, and continually strive to nurture and keep alive the innate curiosity we are all born with.
References~
Hoffmann, Banesh (with Helen Dukas as collaborator). Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel. New York: Viking, 1972.
http://www.msu.edu/user/mccaske1/writing/einstein.htm
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gvo/docs/StarChild/who_who_level2/sagan.html
How To Think like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb.
To get a true perspective of Richard Feynman’s character, and how his curious nature had an impact on modern-day science read any of the following books.
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman, Edward Hutchling, & Ralph Leighton.
What Do You Care What Other People Think? further Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman & Ralph Leighton.
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman & Jeffery Robbins.
For more details on the above books check out the Good Reads page.