More than 25 years ago, Prof. G. Srinivasan (RRI, Bengaluru), in an astrophysics class, narrated something that has stuck in my mind.
I am paraphrasing here.
He told us about a conversation he had with Prof. Jocelyn Bell, the discoverer of pulsars (rotating neutron stars).
When Jocelyn was asked: What is the most important quality to do scientific research?
She replied: ‘ability to wonder’.