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A Curious Boy
- The Making of a Scientist
- Narrated by: Richard Fortey, Mike Grady
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
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A Curious Boy
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Publisher's Summary
What makes a scientist?
Charming, funny and wise, in this memoir Richard Fortey shows how restless curiosity about the natural world led him to become a leading scientist and writer, with adventures and misadventures along the way.
From a garden shed laboratory where he manufactured the greatest stink in the world to a tent high in the Arctic in pursuit of fossils, this is a story of obsession and love of nature, flavoured with the peculiarities and restrictions of post-war Britain. Fortey tells the story of following his father down riverbanks to fish for trout, and also of his father's shocking death. He unfolds his early passions–fungi, ammonite hunting and eyeing up bird's eggs. He evokes with warmth and wit how the natural world started out as his playground and refuge, then became his life's work.
Much more than a story about science alone, this memoir gives an unforgettable portrait of a young, curious mind, and shows how luck and enthusiasm can create a special life.
What the critics say
"Truth and courage are what memoirs need and this one has them both in spades.... He never forgets that the small boy, watching his father’s effortless casting on the waters of the Itchen, somehow remains permanently present inside the great, famous and lauded scientist. The unforgotten boy: that is what makes this a book a revelation." (Adam Nicolson, winner of the 2018 Wainwright Prize)
"A wonderful, absolutely beguiling glimpse into the formative life of a great scientist. I learnt a lot and really loved it." (Richard Holmes)