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A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to anautobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of receivedwisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88)cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestsellerever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (readthe chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant ofstupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (checkout "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You JustAsk Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible toenjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch ofhilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. Atsome point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all themerriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authenticknowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give upon seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideasthat have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had allthese qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and vervein his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around theworld--adored him. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (176)

Finally a book that really is smart and funny
This book is a keeper.So many times I look at the cover of a book and it says - Smart and Funny.This book is all that and more.It makes me smile over and over again.It's a great companion to the Feynman Lectures as he describes his time in Princeton and working with Oppenheimer amongst others.It has amazingly small and amusing details on Feynman's world.

Entertaining
This book is definitly a fun read.As one progresses through the book there is this feeling that you are sitting with an older Mr. Feynman who is just telling you about adventures of his life a story at a time.Very enjoyable, but just be warned that this is not a biography in a sense that his life is talked about from birth to death, it is simply a collection of terrific anecdotes, but its worth the read.

Give me a break.The book reeks of phoniness.
While the title seems to imply that the author was such a "free spirit" that he couldn't be shackled by others' limited capacity for life, what comes through between the lines at every turn is man who in fact was quite vane and wanted others to worship him.

Now, as a professional physicist myself, I am fully aware of Feynman's contribution to physics. That's where he's outstanding and deserves respect. Outside of the realm of his craft, it's quite another story. In truth, the opinions and actions depicted in the book can best be described as smart-alecky and perhaps juvenile, not anything of depth. Nonetheless, over the years an industry of Feynman groupies (many of them physicists, of course) has formed. This book will be primarily of interest to these uncritical Feynman fans. If you think for yourself, on the other hand, I believe you will find the book disingenuous. ... Read more

Isbn: 0393019217
Subjects: 1. Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc 2. Biography 3. Biography / Autobiography 4. Biography/Autobiography 5. Feynman, Richard Phillips 6. General 7. Humor 8. Physicists 9. Physics (General) 10. Science 11. United States 12. PHYSICS

What Do You Care What Other People Think ? : Further Adventures of a Curious Character
by RICHARD P. FEYNMAN
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Paperback (01 October, 1989)
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Editorial Review

A thoughtful companion volume to the earlierSurely You Are Joking Mr. Feynman!. Perhaps the most intriguing parts of the book are the behind-the-scenes descriptions of science and policy colliding in the presidential commission to determine the cause of the Challenger space shuttle explosion; and the scientific sleuthing behind his famously elegantO-ring-in-ice-water demonstration. Not as rollicking as his other memoirs, but in some ways more profound. ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Feynman protects some careers at NASA
I enjoyed this book, but am surprised at how many people (including Feynman himself) seem have bought into the myth that Feynman was the one who worked out what went wrong with Challenger. NASA were well aware of the cause of the disaster long before Feynman came on the scene! If you do not believe this, then read the chapter entitled "Afterthoughts" at the end of the book - making appropriate allowances for Feynman's huge ego. From the point of view of protecting people's careers, it was much better to have the Great Feynman explain the problem with the O-rings to an astonished public after months of careful investigation than simply to name and shame those responsible for the faulty design and/or operation of the shuttle. The notion that the problem could only be solved by one of the greatest minds in theoretical physics was obviously good for NASA as it took away some of their own responsibility.

Prof. Feynman Tells It Like It Is!
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) had a very full and adventurous life as can be gleaned from this great book. The first half is mostly autobiographical and anecdotal and in the typical Feynman way, he leaves nothing to the imagination. He spent the latter part of his life as a Professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Ca.

For hobbies he loved bongos and drums and occasionally performed with a drumming group at Caltech, but was content to spend hours drumming with close friends such as Ralph Leighton at his home. Feynman also enjoyed drawing and painting and some of his artwork is depicted in this book. The artwork was exacting and professional. There are several photos covering Feynman's life and concluding with space shuttle photos and diagrams.

The second half of the book, and some would say the most potent part, is dedicated to Feynman's participation in the investigation of the 1986 space shuttle "Challenger" accident. Feynman demonstrated the ultimate in dogged pursuit of the cause and was not to be intimidated or put-off by NASA and military officials who would have been happy not disclose the damning facts that they were thoroughly warned about safety issues before the launch, yet chose to ignore these warnings in deference to thenPres. Reagan's desire for a political feather in his cap by launching the shuttle on his schedule.

Who knows what, if anything, was explained to Reagan that the weather was too cold to launch (the shuttle was not suppose to be launched in less than 53 degree weather and the temperature at launch time was 29 degrees!). What is known is that the NASA management chose to ignore the warnings and heeded the beck and call of the President to launch. Later, and like typical management weasels, they tried to hush-up the fact that they were warned and then tried to blame the "O"-ring failure on the manufacturer, Thiokol.

During the inquiry, Feyman took the opportunity to demonstrate a simple, common-sense experiment in front of his fellow investigative teammates and news cameras that when the "O"-rings are chilled (he dropped a piece of one held by pliers in a glass of water) they shrink and cannot seal properly, and especially when the violent vibration of the launch process is added for an ultimately disastrous mix.

If not for Feynman's persistence, this simple, but profound demonstration could have been swept under the rug and fingers unfairly pointed at Thiokol. Management refused to take any responsibility for the disaster, yet when in fact, their incompetent dismissal of the freeze conditions were what led to the disaster. Thank God for Richard Feynman! This is not only a fascinating look into Feynman's life, it is a national treasure, for here is where we see the bungling, politically motivated decisions of a great country being jerked around by bureaucrats leading, ultimately, to disaster.

Awe Struck
In my life I have only come across a few books which have been able to exert the same type of force on me as Richard P. Feynman's collection of essays, What Do You Care What Other People Think? has.To use an appropriate analogy: it is the feeling that a massive body exerts on all lesser bodies around it, pulling them down the bent slope of space towards them - it is not a conscious act but rather is just the natural result of the weight of the ideas involved.From nearly the first page on there are passages which you just feel compelled to tell a friend about, like there wonder is too much for you to handle on your own and you need someone else to share that since of awe with. ... Read more

Isbn: 0553347845
Subjects: 1. Anecdotes 2. Biography 3. Biography / Autobiography 4. General 5. Personal Growth - Happiness 6. Physicists 7. Science 8. Science/Mathematics 9. Space vehicle accidents 10. United States 11. Self-Help / Happiness

Feynman Lectures on Computation
by Richard P. Feynman, Robin W. Allen, Tony Hey
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Paperback (July, 2000)
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Reviews (9)

I like this book
Yes, I think you can teach the theory of computation from this book.And you can learn it from this book.Some of the material isn't all that recent, but much of it doesn't need to be.

35 years ago, if one were teaching a course on the theory of computation, I'd have recommended Minsky's book (it came out in 1967).That was a great text.Nowadays, there are numerous choices.But one could still use books that originally came out well before Feynman's notes, such as Lewis & Papadimitriou or Hopcroft, Motwani, and Ullman.

The question boils down to the quality of what is in the book, as well as what material it has that other books do not, and what material it is missing that most other texts have.

This book is quite readable and preserves much of Feynman's teaching style.So let's look at what it is missing.First, it doesn't talk much about real neurons.Of course, even Minsky doesn't dwell much on that, and other computation books avoid that topic too.But now, there's a more serious omission.Feynman spends something like two pages on grammars! If you were using Lewis and Papadimitriou (first edition) there would be a chapter of over 70 pages on context-free languages alone.As a teacher or a student, would you really want to miss all that?

No, as a student, you would have to read up on all that material elsewhere.And as a teacher, you would have to use another book or write your own notes.That material is too much a part of most required curricula.

But that doesn't take away from the value of the book when it comes to the rest of the material.And the final four chapters, which discuss coding and information theory, reversible computation and the thermodynamics of computing, quantum mechanical computers, and some physical aspects of computation, are all useful material that you often won't see in other computation texts.

As a student, I'd read the book.As a teacher, I'd recommend it to my students.But as either, I wouldn't expect to use it as the only textbook.

Dissapointing is correct
We physicists want a readable book on computability, degrees of computational complexity, and the like. Feynman would have been the writer to provide us with that. We're fortunate to have anything at all of what Feynman thought about the subject, but this book (taken from Feynman's rough lecture notes) does not do the job. E.g., in the first chapter we're presented with a description of RPF's joy in discovery and corresponding philosophy of how to understand anything: don't read about it, just work it out by yourself in umpteen different ways (nothing new about Feynman there!), but the examples provided of how Feynman actullally worked it out can be compared with some of Arnol'd's presentations of how he worked out mechanics problems in his text on Classical Mechanics (state the problem, then state the final result). So we still need a SYSTEMATIC 'written-for physicists' text on computability. Neverthless, we can be grateful to Hey and Allen for putting together these stimulating Feynman fragments for us, especially since they stem from his last days of life as a physicist.

By the way, Feynman certainly would not have agreed with S. Weinberg's extreme reductionist philisophy that asserts that once we've understood quantum theory and quarks then we've understood physics/nature, that 'the rest is mere detail'. On the other hand, he surely would have horselaughed the holists who proclaim that reductionism is dead, that physics will become more like 'poetry'. The lie in the latter nonsense is exposed by the entire field of genetics and cell biology, which is where the 'real' complexity in nature is to be found. Every physics student should be required to take a good class in molecular biolgy these days, a subject that's a lot more important and a lot more interesting than string theory (which, as Feynman more or less said, has degenerated into mere philosophy in the absence of experiments to test the ideas) .

Dissapointing
I find this book dissapointing. It doesn't compare with the insight, clarity, and beauty found in the famous "Feynman lectures in physics". Basically what Feynman does in this book is simplify and coaches one though complex Computer Science/ Information Theory Concepts. The book may have the small size of a novel, but I find it to be more like a textbook; because it has many equations (even exercises in the first chapter), and also one has to be quite attentive while reading. I'm not saying this is a bad book, only that, if you liked the "Feynman lectures in physics" it doesn't automatically mean you'll like this book. This book is different, obviously in the sense that it doesn't deal much with physics, and secondly in the fact that it is not passionatly written, I think. Why is this book so expensive anyways?
Now that you got my warning. I can definitely recomend this book for people intereseted in things like:
-theoretical limits of computers (enthropy, energy)
-physical realizations of logic gates (transistors)
-quantum computers ... Read more

Isbn: 0738202967
Sales Rank: 170862
Subjects: 1. Computer Bks - General Information 2. Computer Books: General 3. Computers 4. Discrete Mathematics 5. Information Theory 6. Machine Theory 7. Philosophy & Social Aspects 8. Physics 9. Theory Of Computing

$39.00

The Feynman Lectures on Physics : Commemorative Issue Vol 1: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat
by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands
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Paperback (01 January, 1971)
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Reviews (83)

One size doesn't fit all
First, on the question of whether the original lectures were a failure. In the April 2005 issue of Physics Today, Matthew Sands writes about the project that resulted in the Feynman Lectures. He disputes the claim that the undergraduates drifted away from Feynman's lectures in large numbers, and explains how Feynman's preface came about, and why he (Sands) finds it unduly negative.

It has always been widely agreed that the Lectures are insufficient as a standalone textbook, and best used as supplemental reading. As can be seen from the reviews here, Feynman's approach appeals to many readers, but falls flat with others. This is not surprising, as different people respond to different ways of explaining physics. As an historical aside, Feynman and Schwinger took such different approaches to developing quantum electrodynamics theory that it wasn't immediately clear that their formulations were even equivalent. Most physicists find Feynman's approach easier to learn, but others find it unsatisfying. People are different. Physicists are different. Even physics students are different. There is not, and will never be, one book that is the best for every reader. The Feynman Lectures are great because they have been so enlightening to so many people, not because they meet the impossible standard of being clear to every reader.

Very informal but entertaining
I read these books several years ago because one of my professor is a super Feynman fan.He told us how wonderful these lectures are.By curiosity,I found them out in the library and tried to read them.I must say that these books are not that easy to read.The style is very informal.There are not many equations in the books.If you don't have some knowledge about a topic and you want to learn it from these lectures,you will soon feel very frustrated.I agree that Feynman is a great physicist but probably he is not that good at preaching knowledge.If you ever read Freeman Dyson's Disturbing the Universe,you ought to know that Feynman is not very good at explaining his own ideas at least in those period of time while Dyson was in Cornell.I shall not suggest a beginner starts learning physics from these lectures.But if you have learned physics several years and want to see some fresh explanation of some topics you are familiar with,you can find many interesting stuff in these lectures.I think that the true value of these books.

It's the best of books, it's the worst of books
Most of the reviewers are right, even the ones that contradict; something Feynman would appreciate.

The books bespeak the Beauty of Physics.Feynman's enthusiasm and
creativity comes through.The wonder and joy of physics is there.
For this alone the books are rightly appreciated.I have the set on my bookshelf and do go back to read it from time to time.

The dark side can be shown by Feynman himself in Volume 3.Regarding the lectures, he says "...I think the system is a failure."It seemed to only reach the brightest students and the ones with the best physics backgrounds.He quotes Gibbons: "The
power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous."In short,
the lectures do NOT make a great text.

I was an undergraduate at Caltech starting in 1970, and the first two years of physics used these books as text.There was a book of problems accompanying the lectures, but the connection was slight.The majority of us had a hard time.Beauty is one thing, but solving problems is another.It took years of grinding through Schaum's and other books to gain an understanding of physics sufficient for a Ph.D., which I now actually have.

So that's how I view these books.They are must-have books, but it is difficult to use them as a text.(Volume 3, the Quantum
Mechanics one comes the closest, I must confess.) ... Read more

Isbn: 0201021161
Sales Rank: 137715
Subjects: 1. Physics 2. Science 3. Science / Physics

$29.92

The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 2
by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands
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Paperback (01 January, 1971)
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Reviews (83)

Isbn: 020102117X
Sales Rank: 137173
Subjects: 1. Physics 2. Science 3. Science/Mathematics 4. Science / Physics

$31.89

Feynman Lectures On Physics (Volume 3)
by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands
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Paperback (01 January, 1971)
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Reviews (83)

Isbn: 0201021188
Sales Rank: 470004
Subjects: 1. Physics 2. Science 3. Science/Mathematics 4. Science / Physics

$31.89

The Feynman Processor : Quantum Entanglement and the Computing Revolution (Helix Books Series)
by G. J. Milburn, Gerard J. Milburn
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Paperback (01 December, 1999)
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Reviews (9)

A thought-provoking book
An interesting discussion of computing technology.I'd guess that it is out of date at this point, though.

skip it
One of the most glib and inaccessible treatments of the subject I've encountered.You're much better off with something like Julian Brown's "Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse" or Feynman's own lectures on computation.

Some good material badly written, with a lot of junk
This book is clearly written by a physics professor who doesn't spend much time talking to people who haven't studied physics.I would guess his editor falls into this category as well.The back cover praises its accessibility, a marketing gimmick as obviously deceptive as the sensationalistic chapter names.For example, one chapter, "Teleportation for Gamblers" is named after an obscure quantum phenomenon that has been dubbed teleportation for no apparent reason, has nothing to do with gambling, and is only referred to in passing.

The first four chapters try to give an overview of quantum mechanics to those who haven't studied physics.Even after spending 4 years earning a Bachelor's in Physics, I was only barely able to follow the discussion.If I did not already understand the principles he was explaining, I would never have been able to fill in the holes of explanation.

But my biggest complaint about this section is that he bases the entire discussion on calculating probabilities in a quantum environment.But in trying to avoid complex math, he leaves out essential details.The much more intuitive explanation of superposition of states (whereby an object is in two places or states at the same time) he barely mentions in this section.If the material was presented in this way, all the math would be unnecessary, and the interesting second part of the book would make much more sense.

Beyond that, the book contains numerous factual mistakes.His Turing machine for multiplying on page 99 just doesn't work.On page 109, he says that if you have N objects, and for each object you need to store N pieces of information that have a total of N^N pieces of information.The correct answer, N^2, makes his point much less dramatic.

The last two chapters are interesting indeed.They discuss what is possible with a quantum computer, and the state of research in 1998.I recommend that if you do buy this book, only read the last two chapters.If you can't follow it, look anywhere else for an explanation.The first four chapters will not help. ... Read more

Isbn: 0738201731
Sales Rank: 460693
Subjects: 1. Computer Science 2. Computers 3. Hardware - Mainframes & Minicomputers 4. Quantum Theory 5. Quantum computers 6. Science 7. Science/Mathematics

$10.88

Richard Feynman: A Life in Science
by John R. Gribbin, Mary Gribbin
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Paperback (01 July, 1998)
list price: $13.95
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Editorial Review

Richard Feynman was something of a rarity: a science superstar. Like another superstar who preceded him, Albert Einstein, Feynman's science was ahead of his time, but it was his qualities as a human being that caught the imaginations of ordinary people.A whole body of legend has grown up around the man--much of it promulgated by Feynman himself--and nearly 10 years after his death he remains a popular subject of memoirs, biographies, and even films. In Richard Feynman, respected science writers John and Mary Gribbins combine biography with popular science in this absorbing look at the great man's life and work.

Though there's little new information about Feynman's personal life and interests here--everything from his passion for bongo drums to his fascination with the country of Tuva has been documented many times and in many places before now--the Gribbons do an exemplary job of explaining just why Feyman was such a giant among physicists. Quanatum theory is the kind of subject that could give the average reader a raging headache, yet the Gribbons explain it so well that by the end of Richard Feynman even the most non-scientific among us will be able to appreciate just what a singular contribution to our world this science superstar made. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

The Bongo Playin' Physicist
This book, written by John and Mary Gribbin, gives a great insight into the life of a truly amazing genius who was told the importance of understanding the way things work from childhood.Melville Feynman, Richard Feynman's father, raised his son to be a scientist and succeeded.Richard was inquisitive throughout his life.It is clear that his curiosity led him to work on solving problems that were new to him, even if they had been solved before.Feynman was not a social outcast like many scientists are believed to be, and the Gribbins weave in some interesting personal stories about Feynman.Richard Feynman had a wonderful life from the standpoint that everything in his scientific life worked out well, and he rarely seemed to have any major obstacles in his work.The topics that Feynman studied were difficult to understand and may be impossible to understand without having him to explain.The Gribbins do an excellent job of explaining the difficult and sometimes abstract things that Feynman worked on or discovered.Feynman had a knack for problem solving ever since he was young and magically (by thinking) could fix radios.It is clear that Feynman enjoyed the area of study he was in, and "he never knew when he was working and when he was playing" (p 250).His sister Joan said of him.Feynman did enjoy what he did and was always ready for a challenge either from a teacher or from a colleague that was stuck.Feynman lived a very interesting life and not only worked on physics but took up painting, traveling, and playing the bongos.The renown of Feynman was amazing; he knew people from all over the world that were amazing and unique.The life of this man was full of incredible discoveries that continued through his old age.Feynman was thankful for every day he had, especially after he was diagnosed with cancer.Feynman's last words were, "This dying is boring" (p 258).He loved life, and he knew his legacy would continue saying, "I've kind of spread me around all over the place.So I'm probably not going to go away when I'm dead!" (p 258).Feynman was right about his legacy because he contributed so greatly to science and society.

A job well done in explaining Feynman's life and works
John and Mary Gribbin have done a splendid job in explaining the life and works of Richard Feynman. It is a short book of only about 300 pages, but it briefly explains every important part of Feynman's life. Starting with his childhood the book shows what influenced him to become a physicist and how in an early age he learned the meaning of knowing the name of something and actually knowing something.
The book goes through Feynman's education, his career as a physicist and his contributions to science. Along with that the book gives explanations of what was going in the world of physics before, during and after Feynman. This is the part where anyone reading will have problems because there is so much physics explained that a person needs to have a prior knowledge of basic physics and an intermediate knowledge of the atom to actually understand what Feynman did that made him a legend. If one cannot understand Feynman's contribution, there is no point in reading the book. Other than this, I have no complaints about the book.
The book explains one thing most impressively, i.e. it establishes how Feynman is an unusual physicist. Most usually do their best work by their early thirties, but Feynman made major contributions until he was middle aged. He received his Nobel Prize for his work on QED, but his other major contributions are in gravity, weak interactions, strong interactions, super fluidity, atomic bomb and he also led a major role in the investigation of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Feynman enjoyed life to its full extent; he made adventurous trips, played bongos, and actually had fun in doing what he was doing.
The book establishes that Feynman was no ordinary genius. The most important thing about him was he was never too proud and never let his genius get to his head. He was one of the most down to earth and honest person. He didn't accept mistakes from others but was still willing to accept his own mistake. He was willing to share his knowledge with anyone who wanted to learn and had this `feel' about him that one could not help but get influenced by him.
It looks like John and Mary Gribbin had to give the public a taste of the life of one of the most influential physicist who throughout his life was enthusiastic, adventurous and never backed down from a challenge. If you want a basic overview of Feynman's life with insights in quantum physics, I absolutely recommend this book. But if you are the type that cannot handle physics, this book is not for you.

A thoroughly enjoyable introduction to Feynman
I can't remember ever reading a biography quite as enjoyable. The authors are to be congratulated for their perfect blend of scientific and personal anecdotes. You won't find any of Feynman's lectures here, but you will come to understand why Feynman is so revered. The author's write, "Does the world really need another book about Richard Feynman? We think so, or we wouldn't have written it." I agree with them, and I'm sure you will too. A wonderful book. ... Read more

Isbn: 0452276314
Subjects: 1. Biography & Autobiography 2. Biography / Autobiography 3. Biography/Autobiography 4. Educators 5. Scientists - General

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter
by Richard Phillips Feynman
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Paperback (01 October, 1988)
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Reviews (62)

The essence of quantum mechanics
QED(Quantum Electro Dynamics) is a very difficult theory even for physicists. By reading this book , however, you can realize the essense of QED
even for the people who hate math and physics. For example, you can understand why a mirror reflects light. Moreover, an undergraduate
student majoring in physics will get something new from this book , I guess.

Richard P. Feynman is a one of the greatest physicist. He was awarded the Nobel prize and resolved the mistery of the accident of Callenger.
His unique insight will never fade away. If you are majoring in physics , you should read
"Feynman lectures on Physics". If you are not interested in physics,I suggest that you read "Surely you're joking, Mr.Feynman".
His productions will make you excitingand invite you to the beatiful world of nature.

Matter and Electrons - Like peeling an onion to explain all.
If you ever wondered about what really goes on inside things; whether golf balls, or transistor radio batteries, read this, a book that describes, in lay language a theory that explains nearly everything.You will wonder, as you read, at the mysterious behavior of particles at the quantum level.And when you read how light really reflects off a mirror, you will be tempted to shout, "Aha"!

Simply Great!
I had this book for a while now, and finally got around to reading it.
It is truly amazing because of the way Feynman breaks down complicated things into their abstract main ideas (e.g. the three steps involved in all of the theory of light).And yes, like a previous reviewer mentioned, this is a short book and if you read it like some literature book you will quickly find yourself confused and lost, thus it requires from time to time a careful study of the material.

I would also recommend Six Easy Pieces (and I think it would be beneficial to anyone to read Six Easy Pieces first then QED). ... Read more

Isbn: 0691024170
Sales Rank: 4698
Subjects: 1. Electrons 2. Photons 3. Physics 4. Quantum Theory 5. Quantum electrodynamics 6. Science 7. Science/Mathematics 8. Chemistry 9. History of Science and Medicine, Philosophy of Science 10. Science / Physics

$10.85

Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time (Helix Books)
by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands, Roger Penrose
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Hardcover (01 April, 1997)
list price: $25.00
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Reviews (20)

From A Great Teacher
Though the title implies it, this book is not really a sequal to the Six Easy Pieces. They can be read seperately. It treats some of the concepts centered around Special and General Relativity that revolutionized physics near the turn of the century. It would be impossible to find another book that can dive so deeply into topics such as symmetry and space-time, while bypassing formalism and exposing the fundemental ideas and signficance in every-day terms. The delivery is in lecture form, and while that makes it more authentic and real, the fact that this is a book and the reader is not really in a lecture, makes it a little awkward. One often gets the feeling that one had to be there to get the full benefit. There is little attempt at explaining the historical context and other niceties and focus is solely on the concepts themselves. One needs to have at least college level math background to follow the derivations. Feynman has done a phenomenal job in reducing such complex concepts into digestable pieces of conversation. There is no abstraction, everything is quantified. I especially enjoyed the chapter Curved Space, as I had never seen it treated so intimately. The self consistency of all these topics and how they are interrelated is elegantly presented.

Great lectures, though a bit out of place
Six not so Easy Pieses is a small anthology of six pieces taken from Feynman's great classic, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, which were delivered to Caltech freshman.I would not recommend buying this book unless you have an excellent backround in calculus and how it relates to physics.I have read the first volume of the Lectures, and i will tell you it is nice having this to accompany it, since some of the chapters such as on Relativity merit to be read twice and since the Lectures is so bulky and heavy.There is no way someone can read understand what he's saying without knowing a good amount of math.Its like reading a book in which all the concepts are expressed in Greek.Also, these lectures were given during the middle of course, and he often mentions things which were discussed in previous lectures.The reason it gets a four is because the lectures are great (many great lectures were ommitted though), but it is too short and is out of place.This is NOT a great sequel to Six Easy Lectures, they have practically nothing to do with each other.The perfect sequal to Six Easy Lectures is the whole first volume of the Lectures.

Six More Elegantly Explained Concepts
Six Not-So-Easy Pieces is the sequel to the book Six Easy Pieces. The first book is a collection of six of the easier lectures from Feynman's freshman and sophomore physics classes at CalTech. Six Not-So-Easy Pieces are some of the more difficult lectures from those classes. In contrast to the first book, these lessons are much more mathematical. Freshman calculus is definitely a prerequisite to reading this book. Courses in vector calculus and differential equations will help the reader to more completely understand the works, but they are not absolutely necessary. However, without much mathematical knowledge, one can just take Feynman at his word for all the equations, reading mainly the conceptual explanations, but one will invariably miss out on some of the points. For anyone reading the book, Feynman's teaching style is something that can be enjoyed. He explains the concepts in a comprehensive and not-too-difficult manner and seems to have a full understanding of what the student in the lecture hall is thinking. The six topics (chapters) covered in this book are: Vectors, Symmetry in Physical Laws, The Special Theory of Relativity, Relativistic Energy and Motion, Space-Time, and Curved Space. This book is in no way a survey of physics. It is more of a sampling of Feynman's teaching. However, the common thread that runs through the six pieces is that they all relate to understanding relativity. For the layman who has a mathematical background and wants to understand the concept of relativity, this book is an excellent help. I would suggest reading Six Easy Pieces before reading this book, but it is not necessary. If you enjoyed reading the first book, I would highly recommend this one and vice versa. ... Read more

Isbn: 0201150255
Sales Rank: 52135
Subjects: 1. Physics 2. Relativity 3. Science 4. Science/Mathematics 5. Space and time 6. Special Relativity Theory 7. Special relativity (Physics) 8. Symmetry (Physics)

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist (Helix Books)
by Richard P. Feynman
Average Customer Review:

Hardcover (01 April, 1998)
list price: $22.00
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Editorial Review

In this series of lectures originally given in 1963, which remained unpublished during Richard Feynman's lifetime, the Nobel-winning physicist thinks aloud on several "meta"--questions of science. What is the nature of the tension between science and religious faith? Why does uncertainty play such a crucial role in the scientific imagination? Is this really a scientific age?

Marked by Feynman's characteristic combination of rationality and humor, these lectures provide an intimate glimpse at the man behind the legend."In case you are beginning to believe," he says at the start of his final lecture, "that some of the things I said before are true because I am a scientist and according to the brochure that you get I won some awards and so forth, instead of your looking at the ideas themselves and judging them directly...I will get rid of that tonight. I dedicate this lecture to showing what ridiculous conclusions and rare statements such a man as myself can make." Rare, perhaps. Irreverent, sure. But ridiculous? Not even close. ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Food for thought
There's a lot of material here to think about. I found Feynman's thesis that doubt (or, more precisely, uncertainty) is the motivation that drives progress in science to be very interesting. In a sense, this relates to the axiom "the more you know, the more you don't know." Every answer that we learn from science raises additional questions that need to be explored.

I also found Feynman's analysis of religion to be interesting as well. His three aspects of religion (metaphysical, ethical, and inspirational) show promise in helping me to better understand some of my own (often contradictory) attitudes about religion. This section is probably the section that will provide me with the most food for reflection.

Finally, his discussion of issues in society actually reminds me of the arguments in "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos. In both cases, the failure of people to grasp basic fundamental principles of science or mathematics leads them to behave in ways that aren't necessarily in their best interests.

Brilliant - Opinionated - Important For The Ages.
Richard Feynman is widely regarded as one of a handful of distinct geniuses of physics of the last century and perhaps the most famous and charismatic in his field, second only to Einstein.

I have to be honest to admit that I can barely read most of his scientific work. I'm just not that smart.But he was also humorous and wise and this book is more about his general belief system and other matters.

Even his prose is not easy reading. His sentences are so long and complex and so well-constructed that the reader feels like he's swimming on the surface of the deepest part of the ocean.Whole lectures feel perfectly designed and complete, all in a curious, Woody Allen, Jewish persona.

I actually believe and follow his worldview, which was roughly analagous to Einstein's.

They were Secular Humanists.They believed that God if he exists, only manifests in a very distant, abstract sense. Both were loathe to accept specific religious views.

It is Feynman's view that science rejects the type of absolute certainty at the core of most mainstream religious views of the world.Interestingly, he includes Soviet Communism as a type of religion, which is understandable when you think about it.

Much of this book is really about the intersection of science and philosophy. He asks: how do we justify right and wrong and other human standards in a world without such a self-invented reward-and-punishment system.

This is surely one of the questions for the ages, one that Feynman clearly believes is beyond the inherent limits of the scientific worldview.He believed that the flaw was inherent in human makeup, and that the solution was also there - not in the science but in the application.

His example was: why is there no water system in the slums of Rio?The money to improve people's lives is there.The will to action is not.

Both Feynman and Einstein considered capitalism a necessary but untrustworthy system, and had political leanings toward the Left.

Feynman discusses the serious responsibilities involved with science, which has in the 20th century been the Pandora's box, bringing enormous forces and power into the world for either good or abuse or evil.

He puts forward perhaps 6 absolute truths that allow for improved human interaction and the greater good of mankind.Most are obliquely political in nature, democracy, freedom of speech, separation of science from exterior interests or intervention, the value of uncertainty,

But in the end, his combined belief system is unclear. It lacks something that the human spirit requires for complete fulfillment.He fully recognized this and I don't fault him for it.

The paradox he attempts to address are inherent in the basic fabric of the world, and if he did think that he knew the answers he would be a different animal altogether.

Considering the direction the nation has taken these last few years, his voice is sorely missed.

Not as good as Surely You're Joking
Although this book is probably the more socially significant of the two, I prefer the light heartedness of Surely You're Joking. This book is a series of collected lectures, so the Feynman that is presented here is the public Feynman, not private, enthusiast, who comes through so brilliantly in the almost stream of consciousness style of writing in Surely You're Joking. ... Read more

Isbn: 0201360802
Subjects: 1. General 2. Miscellanea 3. Philosophy & Social Aspects 4. Religion and science 5. Science 6. Science And Civilization 7. Science/Mathematics 8. Social aspects

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