Lost in Curiosity: Field Notes from Scientists' Adventures into the Unknown

by Roberta Kwok

The real story of science isn’t a triumphant breakthrough. It’s messy, mysterious, and deeply human.

In Lost in Curiosity, award-winning journalist Roberta Kwok pulls back the curtain on what scientific discovery actually looks like… Not a Eureka moment, but a fraught, often chaotic pursuit of truth.

Chronicling researchers’ struggles and hopes in the field and lab, Kwok documents it all: fending off relentless snowfall on a remote Greenland glacier, desperately searching for an elusive frog in the rainforests of Borneo, and scrambling to capture fleeting signals of a faraway moon outside our solar system. These are the untold stories of devoted young scientists and restless minds who are chasing nature’s riddles, without knowing what they’ll uncover.

Through vivid reporting and moments of unexpected emotion, Kwok reveals the inner lives of researchers who care profoundly about understanding our world and saving what’s left of it. From enigmatic fossils and mind-bending physics to the puzzling behavior of wild animals, Lost in Curiosity is a journey through the questions that keep scientists up at night—and the sometimes strange, always illuminating paths they take to answer them.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, History, Audiobook, Environment, Ebooks

368 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2026

About the author

Roberta Kwok is a science writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, NewYorker.com, Nature, New Scientist, Audubon, and other publications. She has received a fellowship from the Knight Science Journalism Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union. Before becoming a journalist, Kwok worked in a genetics lab at Stanford University. She lives in the Seattle area and is originally from Canada.

Reviews

[donna backshall]

Can an audiobook narrator kill a book? All evidence in this case points to YES.

I was so excited for Roberta Kwok's Lost in Curiosity, and when NetGalley offered me the audiobook, I was like "count me in!"

But then I started listening and ooh, it was bad. Nothing against narrator Jensen Olaya for her general narration, but she should never, ever have been chosen for a serious topic in non-fiction. Her bright voice that has a smile shining through every word is completely and totally right for, say, a romance novel, and totally wrong for this book specifically. As well, her mispronunciations of common science-y words just piled on the aggravation. Is unlistenable a word?

I couldn't finish, and I don't want to rate, because the book itself is not to blame. Whoever chose the narrator is, and should be flogged.

I don't even want to post to Goodreads, but I feel like people should be warned away from the audio version. Once Lost in Curiosity is published, I will look for an actual paper copy of this book, as I'm still certain I will enjoy it.

[Sarah-Hope]

If you're a reader who appreciates accessibly written science, you're in for a treat with Lost in Curiosity. A lot of publications in this genre are presented as complete stories. The author takes you through a chronological narrative of the resolution of a specific scientific problem. I am *not* complaining about titles to do that, but I *do* want to emphasize how much I appreciate Roberta Kwok's "untidy" (again, not a complaint) narratives. She sets us down in the middle of the action. A question has arisen, but the researcher is still trying to figure out how to explore that question, how to gather and analyze data. And, we, the lucky readers, get to muck about with scientists while they engage in this still-incomplete work. Science is not a series of just-so stories, though it's often written as if it is. Kwok gives us incomplete stories for which the just-so has not yet been determined—and that's a treat.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss+; the opinions are my own.

[Barbara]

This is an excellent example of how a gifted journalist can make even the densest of subjects accessible and enjoyable. Stellar writing. Important topic.

[Olive Fellows (abookolive)]

Wouldn't it be nice if scientific breakthroughs came in neat and tidy packages, set down on a desk after a satisfying day of work? Alas, it doesn't work like that. In fact, it's much more like what this book describes: messy, frustrating, and often unpredictable work out in the field and in the lab.

Click here to hear more about this book and my other anticipated releases of the upcoming quarter over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!

[Debbie Gale]

I really enjoyed this book!!

This book is like a short story collection but non-fiction science. It follows nine different research groups: glaciologists, climate change researchers, a biologist studying frogs in Borneo, an astronomer using spectroscopy to study exoplanets and hopefully discover exomoons, physicists studying how paper crumples, urban ecologists studying coyotes and my favorite chapter was the chemists studying uranium in New Mexico & Arizona.

LOST IN CURIOSITY showcases all of the work that goes into a scientific discovery or a research article. There are so many day-to-day challenges and setbacks in research and this book shows how science is not very straightforward. I really liked that Kwok showed who is often doing the work in science. Kwok follows several graduate students because they’re often the people carrying out bench or field research in academic settings.

I thought Roberta Kwok did an excellent job describing difficult scientific concepts to a general audience. I particularly liked her description of transit spectroscopy in the exomoon chapter (so much of spectroscopy is connected to the sodium D Lines!!!! ) and also her description of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) in the uranium soil chapter.

I loved that Kwok showcased a diverse group of scientists such as Jani Ingram, who is a chemistry professor at Northern Arizona University, who is also enrolled in the Navajo nation.

The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter drawn by Emma Regnier are so lovely!! Swipe to see a few of her drawings.

Thank you to the author Roberta Kwok for sending me a copy of your fantastic book!

[Rachel]

This book made me feel so grateful for the work of scientists who are in the mess of it, trying desperately to address the effects of climate change with emphatic (equity driven, social justice oriented, intersectional) curiosity and collaboration. Stories from Greenland's ice sheets, the forests of Borneo, uranium mines in the American southwest, and San Francisco's urban sprawl are among many that show how clever and driven many of these young, ambitious scientists are. And they're ambitious for all the right reasons, even as they are often forced to navigate the ivory tower whims of academia, funding, and political priorities.

In my first week of classes with my new students this week, one of them asked me if I thought it was too late to address climate change, and essentially if we were screwed. I actually felt like I was being honest (which I strive always to be with the kids) when I said, no, I don't; I think we have all of the solutions to mitigate the harms we have caused, and go forward in pursuit of reduction, preservation, and reparation. Amid all the reading I've done around climate change and environmentalism this year, the prognosis of which lists more positively in some texts and others less so, the stories in Lost in Curiosity reinforce what I believe to be the reality of my hope, because of the work these scientists are doing, and the earnest with which they're trying to affect positive, sustainable change. I want to be in league with this line of thinking and doing, and to facilitate others' interests and curiosity toward this work. These stories, even as they demonstrate setbacks, require innovation, and even ultimately when they fail, are steps toward solutions of possibility; this is hard, necessary work, and I'm really grateful it's being done.

[Celine L Bauwens]

A beautiful love letter to scientists.

[EmG ReadsDaily]

Fascinating. Vivid. Revelatory.

'The real story of science isn’t a triumphant breakthrough. It’s messy, mysterious, and deeply human.'

This was such an enjoyable audiobook listen for my endlessly fascinated mind, which was beautifully narrated by Jensen Olaya. I was engaged from beginning to end and enjoyed even the unexpected details.

I enjoyed this glimpse into the nature of scientific investigation and discovery. I highly recommend if you enjoy narrative non-fiction.

[Mary Ann Livingood]

*review for audiobook version*

This book is a really cool glimpse into the frustrating and perpetually unfinished process of scientific discovery. In each new chapter, Kwok managed to balance the scientists' stories and motivations with enough technical context to show the reader why their work is important and interesting.

However, I personally found the cadence of the audiobook narrator to be extremely awkward and stilted, which made it difficult for me to focus. I have listened to and enjoyed many nonfiction audiobooks in the past, but I come away from this experience having learned a lot less purely because the narrator was so distracting. To fully appreciate this book I would have to read it again.

[sydney | books + cats || thebookishcatmom]

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I thoroughly enjoyed this! As someone who didn't use her journalism diploma, I was utterly fascinated by Kwok's determination to capture these kinds of stories and the relationships she fostered to bring this work to the people and shine light on the current issues we're facing.

It honestly made me a big sad, especially when near the end there was talk of the continents reconnecting and it being seriously hot and humans likely not being around, but it's so SO important for people to read these stories and know what's going on in our world.

[Sydney]

Science is my jam. This non fiction work dives into multiple science studies, looking at the dedication and determination that goes into field work and scientific discoveries. Touching on viruses, planets, fossils, and mammals, we journey across the planet and solar system. Written to be accessible to all, I highly recommend this work. I found it so interesting all the different studies that are occurring on this plant of ours. The dives were deep enough that I could appreciate the research but vague enough that I wasn’t overwhelmed or bored by a niche topic. Thank you Sourcebooks for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

[Vicki]

Books written by bloggers and newspaper people just have a different non-narrative flow. This book is like many others by these writers. There in not a consistent narrative. It’s a lot of very unique experiences or stories that are all covered by science/experimental science, but there’s not a narrative thread through the entire book, except perhaps science is imperfect and may or may not make a difference long-term. I guess I am just more conditioned to books that are more consistent in topic on a more specified basis or on a more narrative flow following one scientist, or one type of study, or one study focus. Here we have everything from mining impact on soil and water, coyotes, ice flow, frogs, etc. Random.

[Paula]

Thanks to Sourcebooks & NetGalley for providing me an ARC

This novel is being at a vital moment in the scientific community. Through the federal cuts, the changes to the NSF, changes to grant approvals, the public trials of Dr. Fauci, have shown me how little that the majority of voters know about the scientific process. The need to constantly ask for funding to keep researching and finding someone willing to attest to significance of one's findings. This book takes the first step toward explaining those.

Each chapter focuses on a different part of the scientific community. I loved the fact that Kwok talks to scientists across the scientific community about their struggles. By covering many different parts of the scientific community, we are able to see that the limitations and struggles are universal.

Unfortunately, there are moments within the narrative where Kwok steps out of her reporting to provide commentary and interpretation. I feel that these moments are jarring and remove the reader from the narrative. They are being told what to think instead of being allow to interpret the facts . There were a few times when reading that I wish the author gave the readers a bit more insight and perspectives of the scientist. All in all, I think this is a good book to pick up and get some insight about the day-to-day life of what happens in a scientist's and researcher's life. This book is vital to the layperson to gain a better outlook of the scientific community.

[Brittany]

Kwok takes us through several scientific adventures across different fields. Given my own interests, I'm not surprised I was most drawn to the chapters on frogs in Indonesia, coyotes in urban areas, and preventing coastal erosion due to climate change. I also found myself really engaged in the chapters about ice sheets in Greenland, chemistry, and paleontology, but the physics and astronomy chapters were a drag for me personally. The author introduces a lot of researchers in each chapter, including professors, their grad students or postdocs, and then other researchers who are also in that field but aren't the ones we're mainly following the journey of. I recommend not getting bogged down by all the names.

3.5* rounded up

[Jessica Samuelson]

What is it like to be a scientist? Field equipment breaks. Crew members get sick. Lab results are compromised. A long wait for a celestial event is foiled by clouds. That’s science.

This narrative nonfiction book explores the messy side of science by focusing on a diverse array of ongoing research projects. It highlights the hiccups and stumbling blocks, but also celebrates the passions, determination, and enthusiasm of the people taking on these scientific challenges. The chapters I found most fascinating were those about exo moons, smooth guardian frogs, early COVID virus sequencing, Glacial melt, lystrosaurus tusks.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.

[Dana]

I don't know any other book quite like this one. Roberta Kwok's mission is to take us inside the everyday experience of being a scientist: not at the moment of making a Great Breakthrough, or receiving an Important Award, but at all the other times. The days when your experiment isn't working, or when your signal is just a malfunction of the equipment, or when you can't even get to the place where you've set up your GPS receiver because the ice is melting and it's too hazardous. In some ways the stories are familiar to anyone who has ever been frustrated by plans that go awry. But at the same time, they are absolutely jaw-dropping, because how many of us have ever been to a glacier in Greenland or a jungle in Borneo? This juxtaposition of humans being humans, at the same time that they are trying to do amazing things in the name of science, is wonderfully captured throughout the book.

Maybe it sounds as if this book is just a blooper reel of science, but there's more to it. Kwok wants to ask the serious questions: What is this all for? Is it all worth the expense, the trouble, and the failures? And what is the point of doing science when society in general, and policy makers in particular, are just going to ignore the results? The Great Discoveries approach of most pop-science books makes it hard to seriously engage with these questions. By choosing to write about the Nobel Prize winner (or maybe the Nobel Prize winner chooses to write about himself), the author is putting his hand on the scales. In Roberta Kwok's stories, by contrast, we don't know if there is a Great Discovery at the end. Her stories begin in the middle and end in the middle. You're not going to get a stirring, inspiring pep talk at the end of her book. In tone the book is reminiscent of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah." A really tepid hallelujah, one and a half cheers for science because at least we had to try to figure out the truth.

I want to give props to Kwok for her own feat of organization and planning, embedding in nine different research groups in locations all over the world. Even if she sounds discouraged at times, she did not let that stop her from going a long way to get her stories. I also appreciate her trying to figure out and explain what the heck the scientists are talking about, which is especially hard in the case of the astrophysicists. She does a good job of catching the scientists' authentic speech and rendering it on the page. It's very different from the rehearsed, practiced speech of a talk at a science meeting. Of course, she had the benefit of a recording device and a company called Letter Perfect Transcription, whom she credits in the Acknowledgments. But still. It's a lot of work to slog through those transcriptions, and it paid off. I felt as if I was really there in the lab.

And finally, kudos to the scientists who agreed to let her eavesdrop on them, not in their moments of glory but in the ordinary moments and in the moments when they were vulnerable. Bravo to them! They had to step out of their comfort zone.

[Disclaimer: Roberta Kwok is both a friend and mentor of mine. She attended the Science Communication Program at UC Santa Cruz, as did I, and she was an instructor in Christie Aschwanden's "Courage Camp" for science writers, which I attended as a student, er, camper.]

[Mari]

“Lost in Curiosity” is a collection of stories about scientists chasing questions without any guarantee they'll find the answer. Roberta Kwok takes readers from glaciers and rainforests to fossil beds and observatories, focusing not on big breakthrough moments but on the messy, uncertain process of trying to understand the world a little better. More than anything, it's a book about the people behind the science and the curiosity that keeps them going.
I absolutely loved this book.

I'm a sucker for anything science-related, but what really worked for me was that Kwok understands that science isn't just about facts. It's about curiosity, joy, persistence and, often, kindness. Those are some of the best human qualities and she captures them beautifully.
Her writing is engaging and wonderfully varied. One chapter you're thinking about fossils, the next you're learning about physics, astronomy, glaciers or some other niche corner of science that you'd never have actively sought out but suddenly find fascinating. I picked up countless little nuggets of information along the way. Also, Lystrosaurus is now my favourite extinct animal. Sorry dinosaurs, you've had a good run…

What I particularly appreciated was that most of the researchers featured felt like the scientists I actually know. They're not all Nobel-Prize-bound geniuses having dramatic Eureka moments. They're people working incredibly hard with limited budgets, trying to answer interesting questions because the questions themselves matter.

And honestly, that's why I think books like this are important. Science isn't a machine that you feed money into and immediately get a profitable product out of the other end. So many discoveries only become useful years or decades later, often in ways nobody could have predicted at the start. Reading about researchers studying topics that might initially sound obscure—even something like how paper crumples—was a great reminder that expanding knowledge is valuable in its own right. Too much modern thinking about research funding seems fixated on immediate returns, when some of the most important advances started as somebody being curious about something that sounded random.

My only disappointment was audiobook-related. Because I listened rather than read, I missed out on the illustrations - but that is ok and I just looked up some of the creatures and concepts myself. However the narration - this is one of the very rare occasions where it didn't quite work for me at all. Jensen Olaya has a pleasant voice and, for most of the book, I enjoyed listening. But every so often there would be these unusual pauses and breaks within sentences that completely pulled me out of the flow. Once I'd noticed them, I started anticipating the next one, which was frustrating because I'm usually very forgiving when it comes to narration.

Still, the book itself is fantastic. Thoughtful, optimistic without being naïve and full of fascinating people asking fascinating questions. It reminded me why I love science in the first place: not because we always know where we're going, but because there is still so much left to discover.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Audio, NetGalley and Roberta Kwok or an advance listening copy of this book.

[Laura]

Thank you NetGalley for providing a free Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Roberta Kwok for giving the real average scientist a voice. The stories that usually make it to press are those of wild success, or despicable deception. But the average scientist--the club to which I and my parents belong--is neither of those celebrated or reviled creatures. The average scientist is a creature dedicated to a question, a question often so small that when seen in isolation it fails to seem relevant. But add up those small fruits of labor, and what emerges is a mosaic with a clear pattern. Big changes start with small discoveries; and small discoveries are made after tons of mistakes, and false starts, and dead ends. It takes a passionate individual--one resistant to frustration, and able to self-soothe with small victories--to start changing the world.

I loved that Roberta did not focus on stories of success. I loved that she picked so many different fields to showcase that all scientists share a few vital characteristics: passion, resilience, and low budgets. It's so important to give real scientists the stage so that they can reveal who they truly are. Because as a biologist with a PhD, and two chemists with a PhD for parents, I've been told too often that my depiction of a scientist's work seems incorrect. I'm asked to 'do my research' when I write science and scientists in fiction, even when I'm drawing from my own experience. People have become so used to the stereotypes, that the real experts are not believed. Worse, they are assumed to be liars, or burying their honesty and real results under a pile of money. Everyone who has survived grad school on a stipend, and spent years doing postdoctoral research on a fellowship can tell you that money and reasonable work hours are NOT something you find in research.

I loved most the chapters that focused more on individual scientists or small teams, because they were more intimate not only with the researchers but the science itself. A few chapters pooled together multiple experts from the same field (like the Covid-19 chapter) or focused more on the application of the research rather than the science currently being done (like the sea-grass wall), and those were less evocative in my opinion.

I recommend this book for people who are considering a career in STEM (so that you can know what to expect); politicians and people with political aspirations (before they draw conclusions about required science funding); scientists (because we deserve to see our true selves represented more often); and writers who want to portray a scientist in their work, whether fiction or non-fiction. We need to know each other better. We need to start conversations more often. And we need to allow curiosity, rather than pre and mis-conceptions, be the guide of our interactions.

Now go get lost in this amazing book. 4.25 stars, awarded by a fellow scientist (who sometimes also writes fiction), still lost in curiosity.

[Bryn Nelson]

"Lost in Curiosity" is an absolute delight. I’m a former scientist and current science writer (and to be completely transparent, I know the author), but I think this book will appeal to anyone who is curious about science and about how very human scientists actually do the work, sometimes with well-earned triumphs but more often with bittersweet results.

Kwok does such a nice job with clear explanations, not only for what the science entails, but also for why we should care and why the scientists care—sometimes so much that you can feel the anguish of a failed experiment or disaster in the field. But she also adds lovely grace notes throughout, including some wonderfully vivid descriptions, analogies, and clever metaphors: the varied glacial ice of Greenland, the call of tiny frogs and sounds of the jungle, the allure of a distant fiery moon that may not exist at all, the physics of crumpled paper, a lovably awkward prehistoric animal. I even found myself rereading some especially lovely or amusing passages with a bit of jealously. Ha. Writing like this is really what helps science come alive.

Kwok is a keen observer and uses wry humor to describe unusual juxtapositions and absurd situations, capturing both the fleeting moments of elation and the more common periods of dejection or even despair—starting on the very first page! But it’s not a depressing book at all. The research, which covers an impressively wide range of science, is fascinating, and you find yourself rooting for the scientists. That’s in no small part because she humanizes the diverse group of researchers she has followed, revealing their motivations, dreams, and emotions along the way. Yes, they may be science nerds, but they’re often very funny, quirky, stubborn, flawed, and brilliant.

In pulling back the curtain on how research gets done, Kwok writes a wonderful, funny, and touching homage to the “why” of science: why do scientists care so much that they often subject themselves to months or years of failure? Why should the rest of us care? Why do science at all?

By the end of the book, I think she answers those questions beautifully. Yes, it’s the thirst for knowledge and thrill of discovery (tiny frogs, subglacial aquifers, moons orbiting exoplanets) but it’s also the bigger picture of understanding fragile ecosystems and global warming and worlds and animals and physical dimensions whose existence is far beyond what most people can imagine. It matters because it just might change the way we view ourselves, and the world, and the universe beyond us. Kwok, as an intensely curious person whose wonder is infectious, shares the questions, observations, and details that have fascinated her—and in so doing, opens up these new realities for the rest of us. I found it all thrilling.

[Megan Loverde]

I never thought I would describe a book of science writing as a "page turner," but LOST IN CURIOSITY is certainly that. Eschewing dry descriptions of methodology and overblown portraits of genius, Kwok zooms in on the stories behind the science. Each chapter focuses on a different branch of science, and a different research project within that branch. For a few days, I savored a chapter a day over coffee, learning about the perils of placing heavy research equipment on a glacier in Greenland, frogs whose eggs emerge from the skin on their backs like creatures from science fiction, and why anyone might care to spend month upon month crumpling paper for science. Then, I couldn't help myself and raced through the last few chapters at breakneck speed.

Kwok's portraits of scientists are tender but clear-eyed, witnessing the humanity behind the studies. One scientist drinks chai from a pint glass as he searches for exo-moons, another quotes Marvel movies while studying the health of urban wildlife in neighborhoods with different socioeconomic characteristics. A scientist dreams of studying frogs before they disappear to climate change, only to find it's the habitat, not the frogs, that has disappeared. I was left in awe of the tenacity of the scientists who face endless obstacles across generations, and in delight at the ways scientific discovery springs from (sometimes playful, sometimes idle) curiosity. Throughout, Kwok herself is an amiable guide, cracking jokes, voicing confusion, offering apt analogies for complex ideas, and standing-in for the reader, feeling despair and hope along with us.

Science may be "translated" to a lay audience via GenAI, but it will never be "illuminated" by a non-human perspective, in the ways Kwok illuminates it here. In Kwok's introduction, she calls LOST IN CURIOSITY the oldest kind of book, a story book. I highly recommend tucking into this tale.

Note that I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Amber Dance]

Lost in Curiosity is a paean to the process of science itself, an ode to the “messy middle” of the intellectual process that moves human knowledge infinitesimally forward amidst ongoing setbacks. In a world where science is increasingly misunderstood, ignored or maligned, it’s important to take a look at how scientific knowledge is actually generated — by humans, following in the footsteps of giants, doing the best they can in imperfect situation after imperfect situation.

Fortunately, Kwok’s book is an engaging read. She skips from physics to herpetology to environmental toxicology with ease, finding ways to link seemingly small science stories — like the hunt for a frog in which dad cares for the babes in Borneo, or the Harvard-based story of how paper crumples — with the bigger picture and with each other. If you enjoy longform science writing, you will like this book; it’s like a magazine with something for everyone. If you don’t like one topic (the coyote dissections may gross out the squeamish!), just skip to the next chapter and chances are, you’ll find something more to your taste.

If you know how science works, you’ll enjoy how this book explores the bits that are normally hidden between the lines of published papers. If you’re new to science, here you’ll gain insight into the behind-the-scenes world where scientists struggle, get frustrated, swear a bit, but persevere.

[Caitlin Teaches]

Lost in Curiosity does a fantastic job of depicting the realities of science and scientific processes in a way that extends past the basic scientific method people encounter in elementary school. Science is the shared human process of trying to make sense of chaotic universe without any guarantee of finding what they're looking for, and it is humanity's best hope of surviving a variety of existential threats. Confronting the variety of challenges, from climate change to pandemics and beyond, can make it a difficult read/listen, especially with the repetition of not knowing if anything we are currently working on will do anything. But there is also a thread of hope that runs through the stories: humans can, have, and will discover amazing things and solve terrible problems. Particular poignant is the chapter that follows a Diné scientist who's trying to both help her community deal with the consequences of uranium mining and encouraging other members to bring science to the community themselves. The challenges are real, but so is the hope that each of the scientists express in their continued efforts. There may not be one single perfect solution, but thousands of small successes may just make a crucial difference.

The audio narrator was decent. Her attempts at something like an accent at a few points were perhaps a bit sketchy, but that might have been my bias.


Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Audio for the ARC of this audiobook.

[Paula Carter]

This book is fascinating and fun. At one point, one of the researchers who is an urban ecologist explains that traditionally people think of scientists as sitting in a tower and working out a theory on a blackboard, but as an urban ecologist his work takes him out into the streets. I enjoyed how upending the stereotype of the remote, academic scientist was key to this book, which brings to life the people behind the science--people who reference their teenage angst, their passion for Marvel comics, who express their frustration in expletives, and use emojis in their emails. The author has a remarkable ability to pull out a snippet of conversation or a physical detail that lets us see and understand each person we encounter, which ultimately works to demystify science and the scientist. It reminded me a little of John McPhee’s work.

The book also challenges our desire for a Hollywood plot that concludes in a huge, climactic discovery. Rather, the stories of the people, their passions, setbacks, hopes, and disappointments are what is important here (in addition to a ton of information about a kaleidoscope of scientific fields). In a moment when there seems to be so much hyperbole and misinformation, I found this book grounding--a careful look at how science is actually conducted by people like you and me who are out in the streets asking questions.

[Claire]

What I appreciated most about *Lost in Curiosity* was how it reminds us that science is driven by people, not just discoveries. Roberta Kwok brings readers into the moments of uncertainty, frustration, and persistence that rarely make it into headlines. Instead of focusing only on groundbreaking results, she highlights the countless questions, setbacks, and small victories that shape the scientific process.

The stories from glaciers, rainforests, laboratories, and observatories are engaging without feeling overly technical. I especially enjoyed how each chapter emphasizes the curiosity that motivates researchers to keep searching even when there are no guarantees of success. It made me appreciate the patience and dedication behind every new piece of knowledge.

Kwok's writing is accessible and thoughtful, making complex scientific topics easy to follow while never losing sight of the people behind the work. At times the pacing slowed slightly, but the fascinating stories and genuine sense of wonder kept me turning the pages.

If you enjoy narrative nonfiction that combines science with human stories, this is well worth reading. It is an inspiring reminder that curiosity is often more important than certainty, and that some of the most meaningful discoveries begin with simply asking a good question.

[Chris]

Roberta Kwok’s Lost in Curiosity shares the stories of the scientists behind the science that we read about in the media. These are stories of adventure, hope, failure, and persistence — ultimately, they are stories of the human condition, of seeking and not knowing and wanting to know.

Roberta’s stories give us a window into unique scientific-research worlds — transporting us to glaciers in Greenland, tracking frogs in Borneo, seeking elusive moons, or sitting next to scientists piecing together the order and trajectory of Covid-19 transmissions — and her engaging descriptions of these worlds made me feel like I was really there. Meanwhile, she captures the idiosyncrasies and yearnings of these scientists, making them endearing protagonists who are each part of the broader tapestry of scientific advancement.

While you’re guaranteed to learn something (or many things!) while reading this book, it’s never dry — Roberta brings humor, empathy, and context to every story. This book is a must-read for all who are curious about science (even if laymen and not scientists themselves) and for those who appreciate the behind-the-scenes stories of real people trying to do hard things.

[Erin Zimmerman]

I was gifted an advance copy of this book by the author, but it’s very much a book I’d have picked up regardless. As a former field scientist in evolutionary biology, the tales of other researchers’ adventures in the field really drew me in. What I liked best was Kwok’s commitment to show the messiness of this type of work, without feeling the need to land on a happy ending. In fact, as she says right up front, there aren’t a lot of happy, tidy endings here. In reality, things frequently don’t turn out the way you want, and even if they do, the work goes on. Given my background, the chapter about the mating calls of Bornean frogs was my favourite. Kwok’s vivid descriptions of the rainforest at night, the hazards and bureaucratic red tape of work in the tropics, and the slow buildup of clues as the researcher amassed them kept me hooked, even if a full, clear picture of what was going on never arrived. If you’re interested in knowing what being a scientific researcher is really like, beyond the easy headlines of finished studies, I highly recommend this book.

[Stephkay]

"Lost in Curiosity" is definitely an ode to the way science works, and sometimes doesn't. Like science experiments in any field, the results very. YMMV based on what even interests you, but I found the "Evolutionary Biology: Call of the Guardian Frog" and "Paleontology: Through a Glass Darkly" and "Physics: Paper Labyrinth" to be my favorites. I was less enamoured by "Geology: The Invisible River" and "Astronomy: Moon on Fire". The others fall in the middle.

Perfect book for a frustrated researcher/academic or an aspiring researcher/academic who may benefit from a non-idealist view of what they're getting into (and why people love it anyway). A couple emblematic lines:

"One one page, she had scribbled in fossils it is challenging, crossed that out, and kept writing, which seemed an appropriate summation of paleontology"

"I'm not sure it's knowable."

"What matters is that these scientists keep pursuing answers, that they throw themselves into the breach over and over, in spite of the fact that they will likely play very minor roles…"

[Andrea]

What a delight, a book that helps readers understand not only what scientists are studying but how science works and the personal cost of doing science well. Nine different areas of science are approached through nine research questions. The author meets with the scientists and either travels to the study area or, in the case of Greenland glaciers, gets as close as the main town base from which the researchers launch. She documents and explains the science but with the wit and elegance of a good narrative. A lot of current skepticism about science and scientific evidence, I think, grows from the general public’s lack of information about scientists and how they work. From urban ecologists dissecting coyotes to geologists measuring glacier melting and astronomers studying exoplanet moons, this book lets the reader escape for a bit into the adventure of science while also coming away with new knowledge and understanding.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out]

In Lost in Curiosity: Field Notes from Scientists’ Adventures into the Unknown, scientific journalist Roberta Kwok focuses not on the results that scientists are lauded for, but the doubts, uncertainties, and even failures that are part of their journey in this fascinating exploration of scientific study.

Led by her own curiosity, Kwok highlights nine projects across multiple scientific disciplines, illustrating the path of each over a period of months, if not years. She introduces us to the scientists who are working on these projects, and explains their process, and goal, in a way that a lay person can understand.

Kwok’s writing is engaging and accessible, and the tone is personable, even when focusing on the facts. I found myself as absorbed in the physical trials of researching water flow under a glacial field as I was in the technical study of paper folds, despite never previously giving either topic even a passing thought. I also learned to admire the passion and persistence of the scientists determined to answer the questions they have asked themselves, while navigating issues such as funding, bureaucracy, and scepticism.

A great deal of the value of Lost in Curiosity lies in its reminder of the importance of science investigation. Every experiment, whether a large or small, failure or success, contributes to a better understanding of our world.

“Doing science is an act of humility. It’s also an act of hope, that everyone’s collective work will still matter in the end.”

Thoughtful and keenly observed, this is an engrossing read that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone in possession of any spark of curiosity.

[Julie]

Fascinating dips into various fields of science. Kwok devotes chapters to biology, ecology, geology, astronomy, etc. by looking into a tiny area study in each field. Some areas I would never have thought of, such as exo-moons. Our solar system is nothing special. A sun, a series of planets, all but those closest to the sun having moons. But for all our massive telescopes and satellites, we have yet to prove that moons exist elsewhere. How they go about trying to solve this is intriguing. Now, I must admit that all scientific study is not equal, at least for me. An entire lab dedicated to studying how paper crumples seems like a massive waste of time, money, and intelligence. But I'm not a scientist, and it was still interesting to read about. And I now have a new favorite extinct prehistoric creature I had never heard of before: the derpy Lystrosaurus.