Chosen by indie booksellers as an Indie Next August pick and for the Indies Introduce list of best summer/fall debut books

“A lively and revelatory book.” — ELIZABETH KOLBERT, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction

“Beautifully written… Authentically conveys the daily life and mind of the scientist.” — ALAN LIGHTMAN, co-author of The Shape of Wonder

“Young scientists’ passion and commitment take center stage in a moving portrait of research in action… With Lost in Curiosity, Kwok brings readers to the wings of a play whose ending has not yet been written.” — Science

“The ups and downs are as funny as they are tragic, thrilling as they are painful. Readers will laugh, cringe and cry... Lost in Curiosity succeeds in selling the science and making you fall in love with the characters.” — Science News

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“Opening Lost in Curiosity is like walking through a door into a sometimes strange but always beautiful land, full of the unexpected adventures that science offers, the puzzles, the challenges, and the bright flash of understanding when it all comes together. It’s the kind of trip you won't want to miss.” — DEBORAH BLUM, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Poison Squad

“One of the most honest books about science I’ve ever read, and an utter delight.” — SABRINA IMBLER, author of How Far the Light Reaches

“The charm of this book lies in its first-person perspective and in hearing stories not of famous researchers at the top of their field but of graduate students and postdocs doing the grunt work on the front lines… A clear-eyed but still inspiring look at the joys and frustrations of being a young scientist.” — Library Journal

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.

Featuring illustrations by biologist and artist Emma Regnier
Funded by the MIT Knight Science Journalism program and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

More Praise

“Roberta Kwok expertly details the passions and chance that ignite scientific inquiry, and reveals how frustration and struggle go hand in hand with discovery.” — JONATHAN C. SLAGHT, award-winning author of Tigers Between Empires

“Roberta Kwok’s warm, humane portraits of scientists in the midst of unfinished work jump from jungles to deserts and span the cosmic to the microscopic... An enthralling glimpse of hidden worlds.” — MELISSA L. SEVIGNY, author of Brave the Wild River

“Insightful and beautifully written... Kwok’s gorgeous writing makes her subjects feel alive on the page.” — CHRISTIE ASCHWANDEN, NYT bestselling author of Good to Go and producer/host of Scientific American’s Uncertain podcast

“A charming, compelling, and much-needed reminder that even the least glamorous work can be full of beauty.” — MICHELLE NIJHUIS, author of Beloved Beasts

“Readers will come away feeling closer to those who have chosen science—and more than a little in awe of their tenacity.” — BETHANY BROOKSHIRE, author of Pests

What Indie Booksellers Are Saying

“Lost in Curiosity revived a childlike sense of wonder in me. I loved journeying along on these adventures with Kwok and the scientists she follows on these crazy missions.” — Amani Jackson, The Ivy Bookshop, Baltimore, MD

“Lost in Curiosity is PHENOMENAL; it is science journalism at its finest… [Kwok] reveals how people are at the very heart of science — how their hopes, dreams, and passions drive our understanding of the world… If you weren’t insatiably curious before reading Lost in Curiosity, you certainly will be after.” — Chloe Lesh, Eagle Harbor Book Co., Bainbridge Island, WA

“Roberta Kwok portrays science as a deeply human endeavour with passion and intellectual rigor tempered by slow progress and setbacks, but also yielding wonder and unexpected insight… Great for all readers with a curious bent!” — Toni Thayer, Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights, OH

“I never knew how much I wanted to know about frogs, the aquifers below the ice of Greenland, and the search for moons in other galaxies! Roberta Kwok has made hard science available and relatable to all of us.” — Jocele Skinner, Shared Stories Books, Caldwell, ID

“This easily accessible, highly readable book is needed now more than ever when the credibility of legitimate science is under attack… A timely reminder of the people and protocols that have immensely benefited our world. And she makes it so interesting! Hopefully it will be read, passed around, gifted, and read again.” — Toni Streckert, bookseller, Madison, WI

Read their full reviews here

Media

“What we’re enjoying,” ScienceAdviser (July 31, 2026)
“The best new books of August, according to indie booksellers,” Book Riot (July 29, 2026)
“Dispatches from the front lines of science,” Science (July 24, 2026)
“Lost in Curiosity,” The Last Word on Nothing (July 17, 2026)
“Lost in Curiosity reveals the messy reality of doing science,” Science News (July 10, 2026)
”July 2026 reads for the rest of us,” Ms. (July 1, 2026)
”Summer 2026: A baker’s dozen promising new titles,” Washington Independent Review of Books (June 12, 2026)

INTRODUCTION: Into the Wardrobe
GEOLOGY: The Invisible River
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY: Call of the Guardian Frog
ASTRONOMY: Moon on Fire
ECOLOGY: The Heroes We Need
CLIMATE CHANGE: Emerald Dreams
PHYSICS: Paper Labyrinth
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Bright Lines
CHEMISTRY: A Space of Possibility
PALEONTOLOGY: Through a Glass Darkly
EPILOGUE: An Act of Humility

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.