Search in an environment with an uncertain distribution of resources involves a trade-off between local exploitation and distant exploration. This extends to the problem of information foraging, where a knowledge-seeker shifts between reading in depth and studying new domains. To study this, we examine the reading choices made by one of the most celebrated scientists of the modern era: Charles Darwin. Darwin built his theory of natural selection in part by synthesizing disparate parts of Victorian science. When we analyze his extensively self-documented reading we find shifts, on multiple timescales, between choosing to remain with familiar topics and seeking cognitive surprise in novel fields. On the longest timescales, these shifts correlate with major intellectual epochs of his career, as detected by Bayesian epoch estimation. When we compare Darwin's reading path with publication order of the same texts, we find Darwin more adventurous than the culture as a whole.

我们研究了查尔斯·达尔文的阅读选择，并使用主题模型计算其表现出的探索(exploitation)与开拓(exploration)决策方式的变化。通过计算Kullback-Liebler差异，我们发现达尔文的行为从早期的开拓（expolitation）转向了后期的探索（exploration）, 寻求相对于先前时代异常高的认知惊奇。这种变化，与他职业生涯的重大智力时期以及他自己的自我评论相一致。

达尔文阅读笔记中的维多利亚科学探索与利用