“Seek and ye shall find”: How curiousity engenders discovery

For children to achieve an understanding of science and of the ways of doing science, and for them to be motivated to use these ways in coping with, understanding, and enjoying the physical, biological, and social world around them, it is not enough that they believe that science is practically important. They must also be curious. Curiosity calls attention to interesting, odd, and sometimes important items in the drama that is revealed to us through our senses. Idle or purposeful, curiosity is the motor that interests children in science; it is also the principal motor that energizes and steers the education of professional scientists and the conduct of their subsequent scientific work. A depiction of the workings of curiosity must form a central chapter in any account of how science is and ought to be carried on.