Contents --
Foreword by Professor Brian Cox --
Introduction: The Stars Your Destination --
Chapter 1: Scepticism --
From the Maelstrom of Knowledge into the Labyrinth of Doubt --
Chapter 2: Is God on Holiday? --
Are There Still Enough Gaps for a God? --
Chapter 3: Armchair Time-Travel --
Putting Out Your Beach Blanket on the Sands of Time --
Chapter 4: Big, Isn't It? --
On Coping with the Size of the Universe --
Chapter 5: Escape Velocity --
On Looking Back at the Planet from a Height Chapter

Chapter 6: Why Aren't They Here? Or Are They...? --
On Waiting for Our Alien Saviours --
Chapter 7: Swinging from the Family Tree --
Inviting Yeast to the Family Reunion --
Chapter 8: The Mind Is a Chaos of Delight --
On the Matter of Grey Matter --
Chapter 9: Reality, What a Concept --
Can Anything Be What It Seems? --
Chapter 10: Imagining There's No Heaven --
On Being Finite --
Chapter 11: More Important than Knowledge --
On the Necessity of Imagination --
Chapter 12: So It Goes --
Facing Up to the End of Everything --

Afterword --
Notes --
Acknowledgements

Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. But, twenty years later, he fell in love and he now presents one of the world's most popular science podcasts. Every year he meets hundreds of the world's greatest thinkers. In this erudite and witty book, Robin reveals why scientific wonder isn't just for the professionals.

Filled with interviews featuring astronauts, comedians, teachers, quantum physicists, neuroscientists and more - as well as charting Robin's own journey with science - The Importance of Being Interested explores why many wrongly think of the discipline as distant and difficult. From the glorious appeal of the stars above to why scientific curiosity can encourage much needed intellectual humility, this optimistic and profound book will leave you filled with a thirst for intellectual adventure.

English