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A Curious Boy

The Making of a Scientist

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A Curious Boy

By: Richard Fortey
Narrated by: Mike Grady
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About this listen

'Truth and courage are what memoirs need and this one has them both in spades … The unforgotten boy: that is what makes this a book a revelation'
ADAM NICOLSON

‘Wonderful, absolutely beguiling … I learnt a lot and really loved it’
RICHARD HOLMES

‘Gloriously evocative’
DAILY MAIL

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.

 Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology Funny Natural History

Critic reviews

'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

‘Wonderfully lyrical … funny and entertaining … I would also suggest that the real revelation is something other than the way these multiple childhood paths converge … [but rather] his ability to see and interpret the complexities of the living world, as if from a great height, and then to compress all the technical material into a scientifically accurate form that is also full of poetry and music … The most compelling insight of the book: the way in which its author has striven to fuse and harmonise, often against career typecasting, professional constraint and simple circumstances, to become the whole person he wished to be … Both the book and the life it recounts amount to a singular triumph’
Mark Cocker, Guardian

‘A gloriously evocative account of the childhood that created the scientist’
Daily Mail

‘[A] wonderful, wry memoir’
BBC Wildlife

‘[Fortey’s] book’s punning title distils both its irresistible charm and a deep truth about science’
Nature

‘Disarming and enjoyable …there is depth and beauty to his writing and its cadence is bewitching; I read A Curious Boy in a single day…and enjoyed it so much that I immediately went ahead and bought five of his previous books after finishing it’
The Inquisitive Biologist

All stars
Most relevant
The book is excellent and the voice artist selected for the reading is both appropriate to the tone of the book and eminently listenable. Unfortunately there are quite a number of repeated phrases/sentences that were obviously supposed to have been edited out in post-production, as well as a handful of misread words (most embarrassing of all being another of the author's own works, "Dry Store Room Number One" being given as "Dry Stone Room Number One"). Nevertheless, despite the audio edit having apparently been rushed through on a Friday afternoon, this was a very enjoyable listen and I would highly recommend it.

Brilliant book, well read; shame about sloppy edit

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What an absolutely fabulous book.
A unique story of how one can become what one becomes.
Every teenager should either read or listen to this book.
Thank you Bill Bryson for recommending it.

Essential Reading

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I got this audiobook after loving his new audiobook on fungi. This one was equally gripping. People who love natural history and who have collected or been engrossed in different aspects of it as they went through life will relate to his childhood and adolescence. The story is well told and has enough detail to bring the various hobbies to life and make them understandable

Fascinating

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