The Shape of Wonder: How Scientists Think, Work, and Live - Hardcover

A physicist and an astronomer describe what it feels like to be a scientist. How discovery works, how doubt functions, and why curiosity matters.

This is a book about the practice of science, not the results. Lightman and Brawer interviewed dozens of scientists and asked them the same questions: what drew you to this field, what is discovery actually like, what do you think about when you're not working. The answers reveal a community of people who share not a dogma but a way of being in the world.

Faculty use this in seminars on science and society. Scientists read it to feel less alone in the weird mix of wonder and doubt that defines the work. Undergraduate majors in STEM read it to figure out if this is who they are. It's also just good writing about what it means to care about something deeply.

DETAILS
- Hardcover
- Science, philosophy, interviews, scientific practice