Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!

The link

"Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!" on Goodreads 

What it is

Richard Feynman was a theoretical physicist and winner of the 1965 Nobel prize for physics. His legacy lives on in ‘Feynman diagrams’ used to describe particle behavior. Feynman also holds the patent for the nuclear power plant, among others.

“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman” is a collection of Feynman stories, transcribed from tape interviews. It’s all anecdotes and no physics, on topics as diverse as flirting, safe cracking, art, and life at the Manhattan project. And yes, the story on the nuclear power plant patent is in there, too.

What it means to me

“Surely you’re joking, Mr. Feynman” is a great, light read. It’s also a unique look into the mind of a man who was very smart, but most of all very curious. It’s no accident that Feynman ‘best of’ book is titled “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out”.

From the book, you get an impression of Feynman as a man who just wants to know and do more. A central theme in the book is the joy of finding out how and why things work. You see Feynman apply this to his main field, quantum mechanics, but also to art, and to samba drumming. This is a sentiment that really resonates with me.

Feynman had a low bullshit tolerance, and a reputation as a straight talker. After the failure of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986 Feynman served on the Rogers Commission which investigated the incident. He then performed a live demonstration of the component that failed in a commission hearing, by submergng a rubber ring in ice water and shattering it, proving that it wasn’t resistant to cold.

True to his curious self to the end, his last words are recorded as "I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring."


Leonard