Book Description
An omnibus edition celebrating a great scientific mind and a legendary American original—including a live recording.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) thrived on outrageous adventures. In the phenomenal national bestsellers "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" the Nobel Prize-winning physicist recounted in an inimitable voice his adventures trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums, solving the mystery of the Challenger disaster, and much else of an eyebrow-raising, hugely entertaining, and astounding nature. One of the most influential and creative minds of recent history, Feynman also possessed an unparalleled ability as a storyteller, a delightful coincidence celebrated in this special omnibus edition of his classic stories. Now packaged with an hour-long audio CD of the 1978 "Los Alamos from Below" lecture, Classic Feynman offers readers a chance to finally hear a great tale in the orator's own voice.
Customer Reviews:
Inspirational.......2007-09-06
The stories in this book gave be belly laughs, and they also made me think.
curious indeed.......2007-03-08
This is a wonderful read....a chance to listen to a great scientist with a wonderful quirky mind. It is all interesting, some of it very touching, but the part on the investigation of the Challenger explosion is a classic study in bureaucratic malingering.
Witty and interesting.......2006-11-10
A interesting view of life through the eyes of a down to earth genius.
Two books in one + CD..........2006-03-15
I have purchased almost all Feynman books so far.
Be forewarned. This book is a compilation of "Surely your joking..." and "What do you care what..." plus a bonus CD audio recording of a talk which was "in-te-res-ting" ( a Feynmanism).
If I had realized this, I would only have bought this book instead of all three.
For a more global and thorough exposition of his life, consider Gleick's '93 book "Genius".
For those wondering if they should find anything out about Feynman... There was a student that was asked if he wanted to come along to hear Feynman speak. "No. I'm going to study instead." Years later he was still kicking himself for passing up the opportunity. Feynman has this effect. Once you find out about him, you'll probably want to have done so earlier.
What's in store for you is a look back from the 20's to the 80's through the eyes of a physicist that married his sweet heart against the advice of family and lost her to tuberculosis a short time before a cure, rubbed elbows with the greats Einstein, Bohr, Dyson, Schwinger, Fermi etc, patrioticly worked on anti-aircraft defenses, helped build the atomic bomb, was bold enough to look at it directly behind a windshield that blocked the harmful ultra violet, cracked safes, deciphered Mayan hieroglyphs, learned to speak and taught in Portuguese, ironed out the problems in Quantum Electrodynamics, went around Caltech acting weird from a concussion for three weeks before any one noticed, "Well, next time say something!", he scolded. The '65 Nobel prize: "You'll raise more of a fuss if you refuse it.", learned to draw, play drums, inspired nanotechnologists, quantum computing research and after surviving 10 years of cancer helped trackdown the problem with the Space Shuttle Columbia and lastly said: "I'd hate to die twice. It's boring!"
Amazon.com
If you've read any of Richard Feynman's wonderful autobiographies you may think that a biography of Feynman would be a waste of your time. Wrong! Gleick's Genius is a masterpiece of scientific biography--and an inspiration to anyone in pursuit of their own fulfillment as a person of genius. Deservedly nominated for a National Book Award, underservedly passed over by the committee in the face of tough competition, and very deservedly a book that you must read.
Book Description
From the author of the national bestseller Chaos comes an outstanding biography of one of the most dazzling and flamboyant scientists of the 20th century that "not only paints a highly attractive portrait of Feynman but also . . . makes for a stimulating adventure in the annals of science" (The New York Times). 16 pages of photos.
Customer Reviews:
The mystery of intelligence.......2007-08-22
Richard Feynman was one of those individuals that appear on the scene and like the stars, burn bright for a short time before flickering out. In Feynman's case it is the story of a one-of-a-kind, an iconoclast who broke all the rules and relished in his bad boy reputation. He was a rampant womanizer, someone who liked to have fun but mroe than anything he was a man possessed by a brain and work ethic that causes one to gasp.
Reading the book, one discovers that it was not just his thought experiments or math skills or polymath catholicism of knowledge that impressed. All of these (or even one of these) would have have been exceptional but it was the ferocious speed of thought and the range of ideas that spewed forth. Indeed, even he admits he was not always right but like a bubbling cauldron, the conjectures and propositions kept rising to the top.
The writing hit just the right balance between necessary detail and a layman's attempt to grasp his latest scheme. This is not an easy read for someone not aware of scientific advances or cognizant of recent theories in quantum mechanics. Yet - and this is what I find so distinctive - he managed to break down the most frightenting complexity to smaller problems that could be solved. Despite his abhorance of philosophy, art, music - the liberal arts that have dominated over hard science - his finding had deep philosophical conotations - cause and effect, time, predictability, chaos and order. He hated pretense (the "new" math), rote memorization, a single methodology and any kind of fuzzy thinking. His brilliant mind raced ahead of his speech as he thought of newer and better ways to arrive at solutions.
Like Einstien, he engaged in thought experiments. Einstein rode a beam of light; Feynman inhabited an electron or haydron or photon or meson or any of the innumercable sub-level particles. Like Einstein his work ethic was legendary and he was held in awe by those who knew him best. Unlike Einstein, his formulas were too esoteric for appreciation by the general public, no easy e=mc2. But thankfully he differed from Eingstein in another respect - Feynman remained scientifically creative until the end. He reveled in his allure - to women and men - yet he found peace in domesticity at last. In some ways it is almost impossible to approach such genius - all we can do is follow the path of all probabilities (lol).
Fascinating life, very good biography.......2007-07-23
I had encountered Richard Feynman's name many times in popular science books covering quantam mechanics and particle physics. So I was intrigued when I saw his biography. If you're interested in the history of quantum mechanics, The Bomb, and the personalities driving modern physics from the 1930's through the 1960's, you will love this book. Gleick is a competent writer, but he gets a bit tedious when he strays from the primary subject of his book (Feynman) into self-indulgent philosophical detours like pondering society's definition of "genius". Also, if you are interested in quirky anectdotes about Feynman's life, you are better off buying Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) or Don't You Have Time to Think, on which Gleick seems to rely heavily.
Reader.......2007-06-17
If you love Dr.Feynman and physics, you will love this book too. Impeccably written it charts out four phases in his life,from birth, early education, Los Alamos and the final struggle with cancer which apparently had its origins in the Manhattan project owing to prolonged exposure to radiation. Woven into the body of the text is the same light heartedness and banter that so characterized his life and work but brings home the rampant brilliance of this man in all its profundity. His uncanny sense of bringing the truth, far removed from the official verbose so much in evidence when he was a member of the commission that probed the Challenger disaster, is the recurring theme throughout the book. Gleick illustrates that beyond the free sprit that seems to stick out, an intensely personal side shows up as his tribulations when wife Arlene battled tuberculosis and he frantically worked at Los Alamos .The last few sections are poignant, when a cancer struck Dr.Feynman realizes that his hopes of visiting an exotic but secluded Soviet territory Tuva was fast vanishing, caught in the foliage of government bureaucracy, he so detested; the visa did arrive but by then it was a little too late. Even in the final moment his spirit shines through; his last words being, "I would hate to die twice, it's so boring", as the end came at 10:34 pm, 15th of Feb, 1988 at the UCLA medical college. James Gleick has composed a wonderful book of one of the most inscrutable characters of the world of physics. Surely worth reading!!
Complements the Autobiographies.......2007-03-12
Richard Feynman, the eccnetric Nobel willing physicicsts, has written two annecdote-driven autobiographies, "Surely You're Joking" and "What do you care what other people think?" Gleik's book, Genius, picks up where they left off, filling in the holes about Feynman's extended background, contributions to physics, and importance above and beyond the curious stories.
This is great for anyone interested in the man behind the science, though clearly not intended as a deep science text. Doesn't replace the autobiographical books, but certainly complements them.
"As though Groucho Marx was suddenly standing in for a great scientist".......2007-02-02
The challenge for any biographer of a scientist is to make the subject both interesting and understandable to the lay reader. Fortunately, the life of Richard Feynman provides James Gleick with plenty of material; in another era, Feynman might have served eminently as an overqualified court jester. While a genius and a polymath, Feynman was also a very serious man who never took himself all that seriously.
Gleick's book charts four stages of Feynman's life: his childhood and education; his work on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos; his groundbreaking investigations in particle physics, mathematics, and computing (with even a brief foray into genetics); and his final months battling cancer and investigating the Challenger disaster. Not surprisingly, the most interesting section describes Feynman's war-years in New Mexico, made all the more poignant by his wife's ongoing battle with (and death from) tuberculosis. The strength of this section nearly makes the rest of the book feel anticlimactic.
The details of Feynman's subsequent work, including the stuff for which he won the Nobel Prize, are, of course, impossible to explain adequately to a non-scientist, but Gleick conveys both the excitement of the various investigations and, above all, their tenor. Feyman's solid grounding in mathematics, his insistence on the practicality of his research, and his method of starting his investigations from scratch (rather than reading what others before him had done) both caused him to make honorable mistakes and allowed him to find methods of doing things nobody else had considered. (The famous Feynman diagrams are an example of his ability to examine something from a new angle.) Even when I didn't understand the science or the math involved in Feynman's explorations, I always comprehended their significance and relevance of his successes and the deficiencies and frustrations of his failures. (The book also made me want to read more about Murray Gell-Mann, Freeman Dyson, and Julian Schwinger.)
What livens up the erudition even when the substance gets tough to follow is Feynman's Groucho Marx persona (the quote heading my review is C. P. Snow's take on Feynman). Rarely has a scientist been so notoriously fond of practical jokes and clownish behavior; from picking safes at Los Alamos to that oddest of hobbies, playing the bongo drums. Even his most serious efforts could have unintentionally comic results; there is an especially hilarious episode in which Feynman trieds to examine what would happen if one were to reverse the flow of water in a rotating lawn sprinkler. His glass contraption explodes and nearly destroys Princeton's only cyclotron. Who'd have thunk I'd have laughed out loud so often while reading the biography of a physicist?
That's not to imply Feynman didn't have an ego; he didn't suffer fools lightly, and he could innocuously issue a dismissal of the life's work of another scientist with a bluntness that could be devastating. For any other man, such candor would make quick enemies, but Feynman's easy-going buffoonery (which he and his son privately called "aggressive dopiness") as often as not endeared him to his unfortunate targets. Similarly, although brief, the section on Feynman's role in the Challenger explosion (which provides the perfect coda for the book) portrays the physicist as a common-sense Sam Spade battling against an intransigent and insular bureaucracy.
Overall, I can't imagine how Gleick could have written a better biography of such an inscrutable character for readers whose knowledge of physics is sketchy. There's much to be learned here--but, better yet, there's much to be enjoyed.
Amazon.com
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.
Book Description
The day Richard Feynman died, students at the California Institute of Technology hung a banner across the face of its library that read, simply, "We love you, Dick." To students of physics all over the world, Feynman was living proof that to lead a life in science you do not need ice water for blood and the mind of a Cray computer. This was a man who combined practical joking, safe-cracking, and bongo-playing with superlative teaching and brilliant insights. Although everyone knows that Feynman was a great scientist, few people could tell you even the name of the work for which he is acknowledged. The name of Hawking is associated with black holes, Darwin with evolution, Einstein with relativity. But Feynman? He was just a "scientist," which is ironic since his greatest work was actually in the area of quantum electrodynamics, a subject of enormous fascination to non-scientists today. Arguably the greatest physicist of his generation--and undoubtedly one of the most eccentric--Feynman's contributions are well illustrated in Richard Feynman: A Life in Science, and readers are sure to grasp his remarkable contribution to scientific understanding through the book's friendly and accessible style.
The biographical format offers an excellent way for non specialist readers to explore one of the more complex worlds of science.
Richard Feynman's own collection of essays Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman was a national bestseller.
Customer Reviews:
Quantum Electrogenius.......2006-07-19
There have been multiple biographies and compendiums honoring the lovable supergenius Richard Feynman, and his mindboggling accomplishments. This one is mostly a collection of snippets and anecdotes from previous books, but it probably gives the most concise and comprehensive coverage of Feynman's life and his vast influence on science. Granted, this particular bio does have a few flaws, especially in its rather breathless idolization of Feynman and his brilliance, to the point where the reader wonders if the gentleman had any flaws at all. Also, this book keeps trying to glamorize how approachable and lovably eccentric Feynman was, but these aspects of his personality don't really come through here, as John Gribbin can't quite make Feynman's hobbies like playing drums, or his love of teaching and reaching out to the masses, seem that amazing. But in any case, this is still a perfectly enjoyable biography because Feynman's brilliance in physics, and all the other intellectual endeavors he tackled, really does shine through. Gribbin also fleshes things out with pretty good coverage of Feynman's extensive contributions to physics, such as almost single-handedly inventing quantum electrodynamics, with the necessary background knowledge into modern and historical science. Despite a few problems with the structure of the biography, the person it's about really makes an impact with the reader. That can't be said about too many Nobel-winning eccentric genius physicists. [~doomsdayer520~]
A Life in Science.......2006-04-18
I really enjoyed Richard Feynman - A Life in Science. The book is an interesting account of Feynman's life, and teaches a lot about physics as well. I feel that the author felt it was necessary to write about Feynman not only because of his scientific discoveries, but because of his view of the world, and how he brought that to science. The book is very interesting. It goes into detail about Feynman's career and life, and gives us details about all of his personality quirks. Richard Feynman is best known for his work in quantum electrodynamics, which he won a Nobel Prize for in 1965. He also worked on quark the theory of superfluidity and was a member of the Manhattan Project during World War Two. Feynman was famous for his lectures and teaching. He taught physics because he found it fun, and he conveyed this in his teachings. We should read this story because it teaches it about physics and the way the world works, but more importantly, because it presents us with Feynman's optimistic interesting view on life. I think that if we all learned a little of Feynman's philosophies, we would all be much happier and simpler people.
The Bongo Playin' Physicist.......2005-04-01
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.......2005-04-01
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.......1998-08-09
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.
Book Description
The Beat of a Different Drum is the definitive account of Feynman's life and work. It covers his childhood, his three marriages, and his extraordinary range of interests. But most importantly, it deals in great detail with his scientific work - from his research on the atomic bomb, via his famous path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, to the quantum theory of gravitation, partons, quark jets, and the limits of computation. This is the only book to show the full range and depth of Feynman's work in physics and it is written from a unique perspective. Jagdish Mehra knew Richard Feynman personally for thirty years and was invited by Feynman to interview him and encouraged to write this account of those interviews.
Customer Reviews:
The Science and Life -- in that order.......2006-10-16
There are two type of reviews of this book. Those who were interested in the man from a personal, non science perspective and those who know science, are interested and can read and understand Feynman's scientific work. Those who interested in the more entertaining books on Feynman, e.g., Gleick, and some of Feynman's own books should tread on this book lightly for it includes mathematical and scientific analysis you cannot get from the other books. On the other hand, Jagdish Medra does an excellent job in reciting some of the personal stuff between him and his father, which were crucial in forming both Feynman's personal and scientific personality. This is the only book you will get that. Mehra did not include some of the more interesting andecotes that are in Feynman's books, so it is not a complete biography despite its length and breath. If you are interested in some of Feynman's reasons for his ideas and the context of those ideas, then you must read this book. If you are not interested, for example, in Maupertuis, Lagrange, Hamilton ideas on minimum action -- you might have to skip large parts of the book because Mehra recounts Feynman's ideas in detail (including all his equations).
I have found the best way to understand science and personality (Feynman was of a temperament Inventor Rational) is to read detailed biographies of the principles -- Jagdish Mehra did excellent job with this biography, you can pick up the other details of Feynman in his own books. I am sure Richard would give Mehra five stars.
An awful compendium.......2001-12-08
The book is already out of print, which perhaps indicates a
collective wisdom of the technical readership. As others (e.g.,
"zero stars") have pointed out, this is a carelessly compiled
assortment of facts. And it is too bad, because Feynman
deserves a fine technical biography. There do exist
excellent books on Feynman's life and work. Gleick's "Genius"
is a masterful personal biography (Gleick is a fine writer
for the technically literate; e.g., see his "Chaos").
Schweber's "QED and the men who made it" is an excellent
historical presentation of QED, in which of course Feynman
plays a major role. But Mehra's book fails in all aspects.
In particular, the technical parts are disorganized and
full of errors. I gave up half way through the book in disgust.
Feynman's technical work went well beyond QED and
the introduction of path integral methods. It was
so broad that few scientific biographers could have done
it justice. Mehra failed. Pais didn't try.
Schweber has covered Feynman's early contributions well.
But there is much good writing on (and by) Feynman.
If you want to know more about Feynman's life and personality,
see "Genius", along with Ralph Leighton's wonderful 2-volume
retelling of Feynman's stories and his "Tuva or Bust".
Also, see the 1990 memorial issue of Physics Today, devoted to
his work style and relationships with his colleagues.
Feynman was often described as a "teacher's teacher," and
the 3 volume "Lectures" demonstrate that well. Feynman's
no-nonsense, intuitive approach also comes out in his
1960-era monographs "Quantum Electrodynamics" and "Theory of
Fundamental Processes", which, though written before
the Standard Model, still give a fine introduction to relativistic quantum mechanics.
Great, but only for a certain audience.......2001-08-05
Jagdish Mehra is, to be sure, not one of the great literary stylists, and his notion of historical writing is to throw in every available fact and save evaluation and historical analysis for a later date. Fair enough, I say: his is not the final word on Feynman, nor does he think so. Feynman's contribution to Quantum Electrodynamics is the central problem for any real biographer, and here Mehra is on stronger grounds. By its very nature, the book is steeped in math, and you will need to be up on calculus and Fourier expansions, not to mention the basic points of QED to read it with profit. It is good, solid history of science, but hardly a page-flipper for reading on the beach this summer.
Very detailed bio of a great physicist.......2000-03-27
I read this book about Feynman with great interest and I found it better than Gleick's book. Some people might not like the amount of detailed info about all sorts of Feynman trivia but how can a true fan of his not be delighted with all this great stuff! The technical parts are very thorough and detailed; it was well beyond anything you find in "popular" books like Gleick's. In that sense this is not really for general readers but there is enough interesting stuff for the interested layman too. I highly recommend this very thoroughly researched masterpiece!
Surely you are joking !.......2000-01-01
I am writing in response to the "zero star"review from from an unidentifiable source in Redondo Beach ,Ca. and some seconding chimpanzee in Sydney,Australia. Firstly , you are not "a physicist too" ! You can't even understand the mathematical representation of Feynman's science .Dr. Mehra is a physicist who has intimate first hand knowledge of all aspects of the history of quantum theory. Mr Redondo is probably confusing "physicist" with "physical therapist". A word of advice to Redondoman : Learn the Science;learn the value of details;learn the English language and when you lecture at Oxford "too" then you "too" will appreciate the specificity of carefully researched and personally corroborated biography [quite unlike the James Gleick general, sophomoric,second hand effort]. Redondoman you and the Sydney Chimp are "too" AWFUL to dignify further discussion . Dr. Mehra has produced a prodigious quantity and profound quality of work. Read it !
Book Description
For some, it was that special connection with a grandparent or a football coach, a boss, or a cleric. For Leonard Mlodinow, as a young physicist struggling to find his place in the world, the relationship that would most profoundly influence his life was with his mentor, the NobelPrize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. Drawing on transcripts from his many meetings with Feynman during their time together at Cal Tech, Mlodinow shares Feynman's provocative answers to such questions as 'What is the nature of creativity?' and 'How does a scientist think?' At once a moving portrait of a friendship and an affecting account of Feynman's final, creative years, FEYNMAN'SRAINBOW celebrates the inspiring legacy of one of the greatest thinkers of our time.
Download Description
A memoir of how an ongoing relationship with Richard Feynman at Caltech inspired the author to a deeper understanding of both his own creative imagination and the nature of humanity itself. The book will include extensive transcripts of Feynman's conversations with the author.FEYNMAN'S RAINBOW tells the story of a young physicist trying to find his place in the world, and of the famous, old, and dying physicist whose wisdom helped him. It is also the story of Richard Feynman's last years, his rivalry with fellow Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann, and the beginnings of string theory.
Customer Reviews:
Feynman's Rainbow.......2007-07-29
EXCELLENT!!! Gives the layman a look inside the world of Physics research, while presenting a life-lesson theme that transcends science. A great read for both science and non-science readers. I'm a Physics teacher, and the reason I love this book has absolutely NOTHING to do with science. I'm making it required reading for my Physics classes!!
Feynman as seen by a peer.......2007-05-18
Written by a physicist who spent a year in an office on the same floor as Feynman and Murray Gell-Man, this book provides yet another view of Feynman and the love-hate relationship that existed between him and Gell-Man, two of the finest physicists of the 20th Century. It is interesting to compare this view with the one provided by the letters collected by his daughter, Michelle, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track: The Letters Of Richard P. Feynman and the excellent, but hard to find, collection of essays written by other peers."Most of the Good Stuff:" Memories of Richard Feynman.
Feynman on Life and the Joy of Physics.......2007-03-16
Richard Feynman and Gell-Man Murray are two towering figures in 20th Century Physics. The book begins with the writer's arrival at Caltech as a fresh postdoc with a PhD from Berkeley in the 1980s. In this little autobiographical book, the author writes about his experiences at Caltech focusing on his interactions with Feynman and Murray - their characters and rivalry. Physics take a back seat in this book. Instead, the author attempts to tell a very human (and sometimes sad) story about himself, Feynman and Murray. I find this book interesting for two reasons. First, the author shares his experience about the insecurities that many PhD graduates have about their ability to do meaningful research work after the PhD (especially when one's PhD work was considered important enough to land a Caltech postdoc). Second, it provides a few glimpses of what Feynman and Murray were like at close range - human beings observed on a daily basis (and at their natural habitat). Overall, I cannot help but get the feeling that Feynman comes across as a more 'humane' person than Murray in this book. The writer doesn't apologize for his bias towards Feynman and he does gives examples of Murray's generosity (e.g. his support and belief on Schwartz who toiled for years with the String Theory). He repeatedly emphasizes on the different styles and outlook (life philosophy) of Feynman and Murray. Feynman is more interested in interesting problems and derives tremendous joy from doing physics. Murray, the smart one who revels in demonstrating his diverse knowledge. At the end, the writer favors Feynman's approach to life partly because of his own interests and inclination - towards writing. For it was Feynman who advocated the pursuit of things that truly brings joy. This is a book that would interest readers who enjoy reading about the lives of eminent scientists especially Feynman.
Thought on Feynman's Rainbow.......2006-12-04
I recently read the book Feynman's Rainbow. I really enjoyed this book and I thought it was very interesting. I learned about quantum chromodynamics and the electromagnetic force. I alo learned about Murray Gell-mann's ideas about quarks. I also learned about Joyhn Schawartz's string theory and the thoughts that Richard Feynman had on them. Leonard Mlodinow had an interesting encouter with Richard Feynman while they were both faculty at Caltech. The author used very personal experiences to tell his story of his experience at Caltech. The book keeps the reader engaged and I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in physics or Richard Feynman.
-Devon Harris
Honest, Entertaining, and Informative.......2006-05-25
Because this book flows like a well-paced novel, I was easily able to finish it in one day (something I almost never do).
In addition to being an excellent storyteller, Mlodinow is very honest and candid in a way that I found sincere and endearing. He describes well the difficulties faced by a talented and promising young adult trying to form his worldview and choose his life/career goals and direction. Many people, not just budding physicists, will be able to relate to this, and indeed I think that is the main value of the book.
In the course of the book, he presents some physics discussions and reflections on the philosophy of science/physics, and of course he also provides some information about Feynman (and Gell-Mann), but none of this is in great depth, so it's best regarded as "bonus" material.
Overall, I can highly recommend this book to anyone with a little background in modern physics, and some familiarity with Feynman and Gell-Mann's biographies and work. The book is very enjoyably written, so reading it is time well spent. I enjoyed the book so much that I will be checking out Mlodinow's other books also.
Books:
- Cloudy Jewel (Grace Livingston Hill #84)
- Courageous Souls: Do We Plan Our Life Challenges Before Birth?
- Cross
- Darwin's Radio
- Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)
- Diary of an Early American Boy: Noah Blake 1805 (Dover Books on Americana)
- Differential and Integral Calculus (2 Volume Set)
- Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)
- Faith in the Valley: Lessons for Women on the Journey to Peace
- Falling Through the Earth: A Memoir
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
- Southwold: An Earthly Paradise
- The Collected Dialogues of Plato: Including the Letters
- The Norton Recordings: Gregorian Chant to Beethoven
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- Where Willows Grow
- Jobsmarts Guide To The 50 Top Careers
- The ABC's of What I Want
- The Simeon Chamber
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Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track: The Letters Of Richard P. Feynman
The Pleasure Of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (Helix Books)
Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher
What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character
The Meaning Of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist
