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Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track [First Printing]
A Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a loving husband and father, an enthusiastic teacher, a surprisingly accomplished bongo player, and a genius of the highest caliber---Richard P. Feynman was all these and more. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track--collecting over forty years' worth of Feynman's letters--offers an unprecedented look at the writer and thinker whose scientific mind and lust for life made him a legend in his own time. Containing missives to and from such scientific luminaries as Victor Weisskopf, Stephen Wolfram, James Watson, and Edward Teller, as well as a remarkable selection of letters to and from fans, students, family, and people from around the world eager for Feynman's advice and counsel, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track not only illuminates the personal relationships that underwrote the key developments in modern science, but also forms the most intimate look at Feynman yet available. Feynman was a man many felt close to but few really knew, and this collection reveals the full wisdom and private passion of a personality that captivated everyone it touched. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track is an eloquent testimony to the virtue of approaching the world with an inquiring eye; it demonstrates the full extent of the Feynman legacy like never before. Edited and with additional commentary by his daughter Michelle, it's a must-read for Feynman fans everywhere, and for anyone seeking to better understand one of the towering figures--and defining personalities--of the twentieth century.
486 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2004
229 people are currently reading
6799 people want to read
About the author
Richard P. Feynman
258 books6,625 followersRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as work in particle physics (he proposed the parton model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman was a joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, together with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. Feynman developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime and after his death, Feynman became one of the most publicly known scientists in the world.
He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology (creation of devices at the molecular scale). He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at Caltech.
-wikipedia
See Ричард Фейнман
He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb and was a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology (creation of devices at the molecular scale). He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at Caltech.
-wikipedia
See Ричард Фейнман
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
November 17, 2010
To my dearest R.P. Feynman:
Our love affair (read: my infatuation with you) started blooming years ago when I happened upon your lectures. Your wit, charm and intelligence was the triple combination that wooed me into bewilderment. For years I devoured anything I could find about you. I swooned over tales of your bongo skills. Your grace and humility when accepting the Nobel made my heart flutter. So when I came across your letters nothing could keep me from them. It has been a rare joy the past week to be deep inside your writing filled with humor, intellect and your unique charisma. When faced with the nutzos that come with fame you handled them in a way that left them dazzled and slowly putting the pitchforks away. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a man with brains who makes me laugh.
Very Truly Yours,
A very smitten Michelle
Our love affair (read: my infatuation with you) started blooming years ago when I happened upon your lectures. Your wit, charm and intelligence was the triple combination that wooed me into bewilderment. For years I devoured anything I could find about you. I swooned over tales of your bongo skills. Your grace and humility when accepting the Nobel made my heart flutter. So when I came across your letters nothing could keep me from them. It has been a rare joy the past week to be deep inside your writing filled with humor, intellect and your unique charisma. When faced with the nutzos that come with fame you handled them in a way that left them dazzled and slowly putting the pitchforks away. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a man with brains who makes me laugh.
Very Truly Yours,
A very smitten Michelle
September 19, 2015
A collection of letters by Richard Feynman, ranging from private things to his loved ones to tips and answers to fans and students from all over the world.
The part with his letters to his wife is extremely beautiful, and there is in particular one I'd like to share. Arline Feynman, the love of Richard's life, died of tuberculosis on the 11th of June 1945. Roughly one year and a half later Richard wrote a letter to her, and sealed it. It was opened after his death in 1988. Here it is:
October 17, 1946
D’Arline,
I adore you, sweetheart.
I know how much you like to hear that — but I don't only write it because you like it — I write it because it makes me warm all over inside to write it to you.
It is such a terribly long time since I last wrote to you — almost two years but I know you'll excuse me because you understand how I am, stubborn and realistic; and I thought there was no sense to writing.
But now I know my darling wife that it is right to do what I have delayed in doing, and that I have done so much in the past. I want to tell you I love you. I want to love you. I always will love you.
I find it hard to understand in my mind what it means to love you after you are dead — but I still want to comfort and take care of you — and I want you to love me and care for me. I want to have problems to discuss with you — I want to do little projects with you. I never thought until just now that we can do that. What should we do. We started to learn to make clothes together — or learn Chinese — or getting a movie projector. Can't I do something now? No. I am alone without you and you were the "idea-woman" and general instigator of all our wild adventures.
When you were sick you worried because you could not give me something that you wanted to and thought I needed. You needn’t have worried. Just as I told you then there was no real need because I loved you in so many ways so much. And now it is clearly even more true — you can give me nothing now yet I love you so that you stand in my way of loving anyone else — but I want you to stand there. You, dead, are so much better than anyone else alive.
I know you will assure me that I am foolish and that you want me to have full happiness and don't want to be in my way. I'll bet you are surprised that I don't even have a girlfriend (except you, sweetheart) after two years. But you can't help it, darling, nor can I — I don't understand it, for I have met many girls and very nice ones and I don't want to remain alone — but in two or three meetings they all seem ashes. You only are left to me. You are real.
My darling wife, I do adore you.
I love my wife. My wife is dead.
Rich.
PS Please excuse my not mailing this — but I don't know your new address.
The part with his letters to his wife is extremely beautiful, and there is in particular one I'd like to share. Arline Feynman, the love of Richard's life, died of tuberculosis on the 11th of June 1945. Roughly one year and a half later Richard wrote a letter to her, and sealed it. It was opened after his death in 1988. Here it is:
October 17, 1946
D’Arline,
I adore you, sweetheart.
I know how much you like to hear that — but I don't only write it because you like it — I write it because it makes me warm all over inside to write it to you.
It is such a terribly long time since I last wrote to you — almost two years but I know you'll excuse me because you understand how I am, stubborn and realistic; and I thought there was no sense to writing.
But now I know my darling wife that it is right to do what I have delayed in doing, and that I have done so much in the past. I want to tell you I love you. I want to love you. I always will love you.
I find it hard to understand in my mind what it means to love you after you are dead — but I still want to comfort and take care of you — and I want you to love me and care for me. I want to have problems to discuss with you — I want to do little projects with you. I never thought until just now that we can do that. What should we do. We started to learn to make clothes together — or learn Chinese — or getting a movie projector. Can't I do something now? No. I am alone without you and you were the "idea-woman" and general instigator of all our wild adventures.
When you were sick you worried because you could not give me something that you wanted to and thought I needed. You needn’t have worried. Just as I told you then there was no real need because I loved you in so many ways so much. And now it is clearly even more true — you can give me nothing now yet I love you so that you stand in my way of loving anyone else — but I want you to stand there. You, dead, are so much better than anyone else alive.
I know you will assure me that I am foolish and that you want me to have full happiness and don't want to be in my way. I'll bet you are surprised that I don't even have a girlfriend (except you, sweetheart) after two years. But you can't help it, darling, nor can I — I don't understand it, for I have met many girls and very nice ones and I don't want to remain alone — but in two or three meetings they all seem ashes. You only are left to me. You are real.
My darling wife, I do adore you.
I love my wife. My wife is dead.
Rich.
PS Please excuse my not mailing this — but I don't know your new address.
January 31, 2009
This is my favorite of all the various Feynman books, because it's not cluttered up with Feynman playing the lovable, picaresque, eccentric. Instead of the slightly buffoonish public persona (or "curious character") he (or his publishers) seemed to feel compelled to present in his various autobiographical writings, the letters speak for themselves. And, to my mind, the picture they paint is ultimately far more flattering than that which he himself tried to present.
Sure, there are lapses - he is not always charitable towards colleagues, he is sometimes impatient, and there is that characteristic unwillingness to suffer fools gladly. But the traits that shine through again and again in these letters, so much so that one has to think of them as his defining characteristics are generosity and graciousness. Over and over he takes the time to respond to strangers, who have written him out of the blue, with letters that are astonishing, both for their empathy as well as for the obvious care that he spent in writing them.
He may have preferred to be considered a rebel, a free-thinker, a bit of a rogue. And he certainly relished the opportunity to twit the imagination-free defenders of the status quo. But these letters establish, beyond doubt, that at heart Feynman was a true mensch.
Sure, there are lapses - he is not always charitable towards colleagues, he is sometimes impatient, and there is that characteristic unwillingness to suffer fools gladly. But the traits that shine through again and again in these letters, so much so that one has to think of them as his defining characteristics are generosity and graciousness. Over and over he takes the time to respond to strangers, who have written him out of the blue, with letters that are astonishing, both for their empathy as well as for the obvious care that he spent in writing them.
He may have preferred to be considered a rebel, a free-thinker, a bit of a rogue. And he certainly relished the opportunity to twit the imagination-free defenders of the status quo. But these letters establish, beyond doubt, that at heart Feynman was a true mensch.
April 19, 2008
Know those cheesy movie reviews that say "I laughed, I cried" and make you think that the reviewer never bothered to even watch the film? Yeah? Well, I actually did read this book. And it really did make me laugh. And it really did make me cry. And it really did teach me some physics and a few life lessons as well. The book covers about 50 years of Feynman's life from grad school through death via letters to and from him. It's a wonderful, compelling read and one that I'd recommend over and over and over again. And one that I know I'll eventually read over and over and over again.
November 16, 2008
Yeah, sometimes Feynman's a cocky jerk, but aren't we all? These letters are just so darn lovely and human. For as many (often justified) snotty replies he gives, there are just as many instances of unexpectedness tenderness and support for people in the same quest to figure things out.
About a comment he made in the early '60s about the minds of women, he received loads of letters calling him sexist, an idiot, etc. When, in the more enlightened times of 1987, he was asked permission to reprint this article, Feynman touched on the issue with wry humor:
"Dear Professor Jodl:
You have my permission to translate and publish the article in your journal. But the world has changed--and I made a remark about 'a girl instructing another one how to knit argyle socks.' Could you add a footnote, by the author (me) to that paragraph: 'How wonderfully the world has changed. Today conversations among women on analytic geometry are commonplace.'
Sincerely,
Richard P. Feynman"
About a comment he made in the early '60s about the minds of women, he received loads of letters calling him sexist, an idiot, etc. When, in the more enlightened times of 1987, he was asked permission to reprint this article, Feynman touched on the issue with wry humor:
"Dear Professor Jodl:
You have my permission to translate and publish the article in your journal. But the world has changed--and I made a remark about 'a girl instructing another one how to knit argyle socks.' Could you add a footnote, by the author (me) to that paragraph: 'How wonderfully the world has changed. Today conversations among women on analytic geometry are commonplace.'
Sincerely,
Richard P. Feynman"
October 13, 2008
Very likely the finest book to emerge from the Feynman crap-publishing machine from which a public can't seem to buy enough (only QED The Strange Theory of Light could compare, and that's kind of a apples-and-oranges or, if you'll allow, baryons-and-leptons deal). An incredibly well-edited selection of great intimacy and scope, giving a much more insightful and indeed sympathetic look into the great man than his self-serving, posturing autobiographical releases.
May 11, 2016
As the subtitle indicates, this is an anthology of Feynman's letters. This is one of the relatively few books that I have read based on a published review -- in this case, Freeman Dyson's review, anthologized in "Scientist as Rebel."
I started browsing in these a few nights ago, on the theory of "I'd just read a few". A few hours later, I realized three things. First, I was utterly absorbed. Second, Feynman had a wonderfully clever and crisp prose style. Third, he was impressively thoughtful, sensitive, and wise in his dealings with others. My only caveat about the book is that the context on both physics and biography is limited -- you will get much more out of the book if you have browsed in "Surely You're Joking..." or at least read the Wikipedia page about Feynman.
Many of the letters are highly quotable, but here is my favorite.
A former student had written to Feynman, and had commented that he wasn't doing anything important or notable. Feynman responded with a long and thoughtful letter. Here are two paragraphs that struck me very forcefully.
"Unfortunately, your letter made me unhappy for you seem to be a truly sad. It seems the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make a little headway into it. I would advise you to take even simpler, or as you say, humbler, problems until you find some you can really solve easily, no matter how trivial. You will get the pleasure of success, and of helping your fellow man, even if it is only to answer a question in the mind of a colleague less able than you. You must not take away from yourself these pleasures because you have some erroneous idea of what is worthwhile."
"You say you are a nameless man. You are not to your wife and to your child. You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office. You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself -- it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of the naive ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teachers's ideals are."
I started browsing in these a few nights ago, on the theory of "I'd just read a few". A few hours later, I realized three things. First, I was utterly absorbed. Second, Feynman had a wonderfully clever and crisp prose style. Third, he was impressively thoughtful, sensitive, and wise in his dealings with others. My only caveat about the book is that the context on both physics and biography is limited -- you will get much more out of the book if you have browsed in "Surely You're Joking..." or at least read the Wikipedia page about Feynman.
Many of the letters are highly quotable, but here is my favorite.
A former student had written to Feynman, and had commented that he wasn't doing anything important or notable. Feynman responded with a long and thoughtful letter. Here are two paragraphs that struck me very forcefully.
"Unfortunately, your letter made me unhappy for you seem to be a truly sad. It seems the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make a little headway into it. I would advise you to take even simpler, or as you say, humbler, problems until you find some you can really solve easily, no matter how trivial. You will get the pleasure of success, and of helping your fellow man, even if it is only to answer a question in the mind of a colleague less able than you. You must not take away from yourself these pleasures because you have some erroneous idea of what is worthwhile."
"You say you are a nameless man. You are not to your wife and to your child. You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office. You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself -- it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of the naive ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teachers's ideals are."
March 14, 2023
While I think one may not want to start their intro to the life and accomplishments of Richard Feynman with this work, they would be mistaken to miss it. The personal intimacy at which so many of these letters shed life on Feynman, beyond what's already so well-covered in his other works, was truly a joy to read (listen to).
August 15, 2020
I think that this collection of letters has a lower ratio of interesting or funny stories to pages, than other Feynman memoirs or biographies. It also has significantly less science (very little, actually). I would recommend reading some of those first. What we do learn from the letters, however, is a humanizing portrait of Feynman, beyond his brash public persona and genius science. There are some great moments documented here. I also couldn't help but be impressed by Feynman's generosity, after winning the Nobel, in writing thoughtful letters back to complete strangers, sometimes even crackpots.
> He realized soon after that he was falling in love with her and that he wanted to propose.Then he faulted himself for being too impulsive. He proceeded to mark a day on the calendar a few months ahead and thought, "If I still feel the same way then, I'll ask her." The night before that day arrived, he could not stand the wait and kept her up until midnight. They were married a few months later.
> My academic life has its usual characteristic of being "not write home-able." However, last week things were going fast and neat as all heck, but now I'm hitting some mathematical difficulties which I will either surmount, walk around, or go a different way—all of which consumes all my time—but I like to do very much and am very happy indeed. I have never thought so much so steadily about one problem—so if I get nowhere I really will be very disturbed—However, I have already gotten somewhere, quite far—and to Prof. Wheeler's satisfaction. However, the problem is not at completion although I'm just beginning to see how far it is to the end and how we might get there (although aforementioned mathematical difficulties loom ahead)—SOME FUN!
> "You cannot develop a personality with physics alone, the rest of life must be worked in."
> I am anxious for the responsibilities and uncertainties of taking care of the girl I love. I have, however, other desires and aims in the world. One of them is to contribute as much as to physics as I can.This is, in my mind, of even more importance than my love for Arline. It is therefore especially fortunate that, as I can see (guess) my getting married will interfere very slightly, if at all with my main job in life.
> Dearest Putzie: Lots of things happened today. First, I found out about the boxes. The x±<= people up here didn't send them out from there yet.
> I am writing this Tuesday Morning. I love you Tuesday Morning. But that is just a symptom of a far more extensive ailment. I love you always. … The key to my interest in all this is probably because I like puzzles so much. Each lock is just like a puzzle you have to open without forcing it. But combination locks have me buffaloed. You do too, sometimes, but eventually I figure out you. I love you, too. … This time will pass—you will get better.You don't believe it, but I do. So I will bide my time and yell at you later—now I am your lover, devoted to serving you in your hardest moments. I am your husband, call on me for help—or tell me to go—as you prefer. I will understand everything. I want to comfort you.
> The food was good and so was the company. As usual I was the only one without a coat or tie. I'm getting good at that. Now I can't go to anybody's house with a coat because everybody will be insulted to whose house I go without a coat.
> We finally got into the buses and started home. We asked one of the bus drivers on the way what his impression of the [nuclear] explosion was."Well, I don't know—you see I never had an opportunity to see one of these things go off before."
> The real entertainment gimmick is the excitement, drama and mystery of the subject matter. People love to learn something, they are "entertained" enormously by being allowed to understand a little bit of something they never understood before. One must have faith in the subject and in people's interest in it. Otherwise just use a Western to sell telephones!
> There is a great deal of "activity in the field" these days—but this "activity" is mainly in showing that the previous "activity" of somebody else resulted in an error or in nothing useful or in something promising, etc.—like a lot of worms trying to get out of a bottle by crawling all over each other. It is not that the subject is hard—it is just that the good men are occupied elsewhere. Remind me not to come to anymore gravity conferences.
> I like Hans so very much that I feel I "ought" to do what you want—but who invented this infernal idea of writing an article for a guy when he gets to be 60? Isn't there an easier way to show friendship and regard? I feel like I feel on "Mother's Day."
> Congratulations on Nobel award. Delighted to see that good textbook writing finally is being recognized. Donald Jones Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
> Dear Mr. Jones, et al: Thank you for your telegram of congratulations. I was quite unaware of your enormous influence with the Nobel Committee and shall never underestimate the power of a publishing company. Thanks to all of you who conceived and carried out this ingenious publicity maneuver. Sincerely yours, Richard P. Feynman
> You write that true Americans have a big and generous heart, which shows only what a big and generous heart you have. For you must know that a great nation, at least one where the British ideas of freedom flourish, is very complex and side by side lie the great and the mean, the generous and the selfish, just as they lie side by side in each man. To see generosity you must be generous enough not to see the meanness, and to see just meanness in a man you must be mean enough not to see the generosity.
> Do not be too mad at Mike for his C in physics. I got a C in English Literature. Maybe I never would have received a prize in physics if I had been better in English.
> Thank you very much for your letter of congratulations. Some measure fame by just a Nobel Prize but I have had a cat named after me! Thank you for such a distinguished and subtle honor.
> Unfortunately your letter made me unhappy for you seem to be truly sad. It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are worthwhile problems.The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make a little headway into it. … No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it. You say you are a nameless man.You are not to your wife and to your child.You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office.You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself—it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of the naïve ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teacher's ideals are.
> [to Watson, on his memoir, "The Double Helix"] And the entire ‘novel' has a master plot and a deep unanswered human question at the end: Is the sudden transformation of all the relevant scientific characters from petty people to great and selfless men because they see together a beautiful corner of nature unveiled and forget themselves in the presence of the wonder? Or is it because our writer suddenly sees all his characters in a new and generous light because he has achieved success and confidence in his work, and himself? Don't try to resolve it. Leave it that way.
> Dear Kac, I'm sorry, but I don't want to go anywhere to give lectures. I like it here and I want to work in peace and quiet—preparing, going, lecturing, and returning is too much of a disturbance to my tranquil life. Thanks for the invitation, though. Yours, Richard P. Feynman
> Mr. Auden's poem only confirms his lack of response to Nature's wonders for he himself says that he would like to know more clearly what we "want the knowledge for."We want it so we can love Nature more.Would you not turn a beautiful flower around in your hand to see it from other directions as well? … the emotions of awe, wonder, delight and love which are evoked upon learning Nature's ways in the animate and inanimate world, together (for they are one) is rarely expressed in modern poetry where the aspect of Nature being appreciated is one which could have been known to men in the Renaissance. … My lament was that a kind of intense beauty that I see given to me by science, is seen by so few others; by few poets and therefore, by even fewer more ordinary people
> Dear Ilene: I am now unique—a physicist with a fan who has fallen in love with him from seeing him on TV. Thank you, oh fan! Now I have everything anyone could desire. I need no longer be jealous of movie stars. Your fan-nee, (or whatever you call it—the whole business is new to me). Richard P. Feynman
> It seems to me that we should keep the conference as small as possible and have only guys that are really working actively in the subject attend. On item 1, what the hell is Feynman invited for? He is not up to the other guys and is doing nothing as far as I know. If you clean up the invitation list, to just the hard-core workers, I might begin to think about attending. Sincerely, Richard P. Feynman Professor Coleman wrote back to say that Feynman was off the list and urged him to come. Feynman attended the conference.
> My schedule is such lately that I must refuse to get bogged down reading someone else's theory; it may turn out to be wonderful and there I'd be with something else to think about.
> P.S. IF YOU CAN'T READ THE ABOVE HANDWRITING, HAVE NO FEAR—IT IS UNIMPORTANT RAMBLINGS. I AM WELL AND IN ATHENS.
> Naturally I could never understand why the girls I went out with in Ithaca wouldn't go out with me again. At last I find out—it was my brown leather jacket! So often, was I thus frustrated by pretty girls (like you) that I came out to California. Since the weather was so much better I threw away my leather jacket and at last found someone who would go out with me more than once—so I married her. I always thought that the girls in California were more tolerant—but now I know the inner workings of the phenomenon. Physics is much easier to understand.
> You said, "I was asked to assist in the creation of the world's most destructive machine but I was never asked how to use it. Now I realize what I have done and what that machine could do, and I am afraid."
> [to Wolfram] You don't understand "ordinary people." To you they are "stupid fools"—so you will not tolerate them or treat their foibles with tolerance or patience—but will drive yourself wild (or they will drive you wild) trying to deal with them in an effective way. Find a way to do your research with as little contact with non-technical people as possible, with one exception, fall madly in love! That is my advice, my friend.
> See you soon, Commissioner Feynman, Nobel Prize, Einstein Award, Oersted Medal and utter ignoramus about politics
> All three have received the Prize as the result of simultaneous, independent theoretical work conducted during 1947-1949 in quantum electrodynamics. Though the results of the three were later shown to be equivalent, Feynman introduced the pioneering "Feynman diagram," a powerful tool greatly simplifying quantum-dynamical calculations. As Feynman himself explained: "It was the purpose of making these simplified methods of calculating more available that I published my paper in 1949, for I still didn't think I had solved any real problems, except to make more efficient calculations. But it does turn out that if the efficiency is increased enough, it itself is practically a discovery. It was a lot faster way of doing the old thing."
> "Dick is always calling up to see whether Murray is working," says Mrs. Margaret Gell-Mann, an attractive blond from Birmingham, England. "If I say he's in the garden, Dick is happy for the rest of the day. But if I tell him Murray is doing physics, then Dick gets nervous and immediately wants to come over."
> He realized soon after that he was falling in love with her and that he wanted to propose.Then he faulted himself for being too impulsive. He proceeded to mark a day on the calendar a few months ahead and thought, "If I still feel the same way then, I'll ask her." The night before that day arrived, he could not stand the wait and kept her up until midnight. They were married a few months later.
> My academic life has its usual characteristic of being "not write home-able." However, last week things were going fast and neat as all heck, but now I'm hitting some mathematical difficulties which I will either surmount, walk around, or go a different way—all of which consumes all my time—but I like to do very much and am very happy indeed. I have never thought so much so steadily about one problem—so if I get nowhere I really will be very disturbed—However, I have already gotten somewhere, quite far—and to Prof. Wheeler's satisfaction. However, the problem is not at completion although I'm just beginning to see how far it is to the end and how we might get there (although aforementioned mathematical difficulties loom ahead)—SOME FUN!
> "You cannot develop a personality with physics alone, the rest of life must be worked in."
> I am anxious for the responsibilities and uncertainties of taking care of the girl I love. I have, however, other desires and aims in the world. One of them is to contribute as much as to physics as I can.This is, in my mind, of even more importance than my love for Arline. It is therefore especially fortunate that, as I can see (guess) my getting married will interfere very slightly, if at all with my main job in life.
> Dearest Putzie: Lots of things happened today. First, I found out about the boxes. The x±<= people up here didn't send them out from there yet.
> I am writing this Tuesday Morning. I love you Tuesday Morning. But that is just a symptom of a far more extensive ailment. I love you always. … The key to my interest in all this is probably because I like puzzles so much. Each lock is just like a puzzle you have to open without forcing it. But combination locks have me buffaloed. You do too, sometimes, but eventually I figure out you. I love you, too. … This time will pass—you will get better.You don't believe it, but I do. So I will bide my time and yell at you later—now I am your lover, devoted to serving you in your hardest moments. I am your husband, call on me for help—or tell me to go—as you prefer. I will understand everything. I want to comfort you.
> The food was good and so was the company. As usual I was the only one without a coat or tie. I'm getting good at that. Now I can't go to anybody's house with a coat because everybody will be insulted to whose house I go without a coat.
> We finally got into the buses and started home. We asked one of the bus drivers on the way what his impression of the [nuclear] explosion was."Well, I don't know—you see I never had an opportunity to see one of these things go off before."
> The real entertainment gimmick is the excitement, drama and mystery of the subject matter. People love to learn something, they are "entertained" enormously by being allowed to understand a little bit of something they never understood before. One must have faith in the subject and in people's interest in it. Otherwise just use a Western to sell telephones!
> There is a great deal of "activity in the field" these days—but this "activity" is mainly in showing that the previous "activity" of somebody else resulted in an error or in nothing useful or in something promising, etc.—like a lot of worms trying to get out of a bottle by crawling all over each other. It is not that the subject is hard—it is just that the good men are occupied elsewhere. Remind me not to come to anymore gravity conferences.
> I like Hans so very much that I feel I "ought" to do what you want—but who invented this infernal idea of writing an article for a guy when he gets to be 60? Isn't there an easier way to show friendship and regard? I feel like I feel on "Mother's Day."
> Congratulations on Nobel award. Delighted to see that good textbook writing finally is being recognized. Donald Jones Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
> Dear Mr. Jones, et al: Thank you for your telegram of congratulations. I was quite unaware of your enormous influence with the Nobel Committee and shall never underestimate the power of a publishing company. Thanks to all of you who conceived and carried out this ingenious publicity maneuver. Sincerely yours, Richard P. Feynman
> You write that true Americans have a big and generous heart, which shows only what a big and generous heart you have. For you must know that a great nation, at least one where the British ideas of freedom flourish, is very complex and side by side lie the great and the mean, the generous and the selfish, just as they lie side by side in each man. To see generosity you must be generous enough not to see the meanness, and to see just meanness in a man you must be mean enough not to see the generosity.
> Do not be too mad at Mike for his C in physics. I got a C in English Literature. Maybe I never would have received a prize in physics if I had been better in English.
> Thank you very much for your letter of congratulations. Some measure fame by just a Nobel Prize but I have had a cat named after me! Thank you for such a distinguished and subtle honor.
> Unfortunately your letter made me unhappy for you seem to be truly sad. It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are worthwhile problems.The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make a little headway into it. … No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it. You say you are a nameless man.You are not to your wife and to your child.You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office.You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself—it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of the naïve ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teacher's ideals are.
> [to Watson, on his memoir, "The Double Helix"] And the entire ‘novel' has a master plot and a deep unanswered human question at the end: Is the sudden transformation of all the relevant scientific characters from petty people to great and selfless men because they see together a beautiful corner of nature unveiled and forget themselves in the presence of the wonder? Or is it because our writer suddenly sees all his characters in a new and generous light because he has achieved success and confidence in his work, and himself? Don't try to resolve it. Leave it that way.
> Dear Kac, I'm sorry, but I don't want to go anywhere to give lectures. I like it here and I want to work in peace and quiet—preparing, going, lecturing, and returning is too much of a disturbance to my tranquil life. Thanks for the invitation, though. Yours, Richard P. Feynman
> Mr. Auden's poem only confirms his lack of response to Nature's wonders for he himself says that he would like to know more clearly what we "want the knowledge for."We want it so we can love Nature more.Would you not turn a beautiful flower around in your hand to see it from other directions as well? … the emotions of awe, wonder, delight and love which are evoked upon learning Nature's ways in the animate and inanimate world, together (for they are one) is rarely expressed in modern poetry where the aspect of Nature being appreciated is one which could have been known to men in the Renaissance. … My lament was that a kind of intense beauty that I see given to me by science, is seen by so few others; by few poets and therefore, by even fewer more ordinary people
> Dear Ilene: I am now unique—a physicist with a fan who has fallen in love with him from seeing him on TV. Thank you, oh fan! Now I have everything anyone could desire. I need no longer be jealous of movie stars. Your fan-nee, (or whatever you call it—the whole business is new to me). Richard P. Feynman
> It seems to me that we should keep the conference as small as possible and have only guys that are really working actively in the subject attend. On item 1, what the hell is Feynman invited for? He is not up to the other guys and is doing nothing as far as I know. If you clean up the invitation list, to just the hard-core workers, I might begin to think about attending. Sincerely, Richard P. Feynman Professor Coleman wrote back to say that Feynman was off the list and urged him to come. Feynman attended the conference.
> My schedule is such lately that I must refuse to get bogged down reading someone else's theory; it may turn out to be wonderful and there I'd be with something else to think about.
> P.S. IF YOU CAN'T READ THE ABOVE HANDWRITING, HAVE NO FEAR—IT IS UNIMPORTANT RAMBLINGS. I AM WELL AND IN ATHENS.
> Naturally I could never understand why the girls I went out with in Ithaca wouldn't go out with me again. At last I find out—it was my brown leather jacket! So often, was I thus frustrated by pretty girls (like you) that I came out to California. Since the weather was so much better I threw away my leather jacket and at last found someone who would go out with me more than once—so I married her. I always thought that the girls in California were more tolerant—but now I know the inner workings of the phenomenon. Physics is much easier to understand.
> You said, "I was asked to assist in the creation of the world's most destructive machine but I was never asked how to use it. Now I realize what I have done and what that machine could do, and I am afraid."
> [to Wolfram] You don't understand "ordinary people." To you they are "stupid fools"—so you will not tolerate them or treat their foibles with tolerance or patience—but will drive yourself wild (or they will drive you wild) trying to deal with them in an effective way. Find a way to do your research with as little contact with non-technical people as possible, with one exception, fall madly in love! That is my advice, my friend.
> See you soon, Commissioner Feynman, Nobel Prize, Einstein Award, Oersted Medal and utter ignoramus about politics
> All three have received the Prize as the result of simultaneous, independent theoretical work conducted during 1947-1949 in quantum electrodynamics. Though the results of the three were later shown to be equivalent, Feynman introduced the pioneering "Feynman diagram," a powerful tool greatly simplifying quantum-dynamical calculations. As Feynman himself explained: "It was the purpose of making these simplified methods of calculating more available that I published my paper in 1949, for I still didn't think I had solved any real problems, except to make more efficient calculations. But it does turn out that if the efficiency is increased enough, it itself is practically a discovery. It was a lot faster way of doing the old thing."
> "Dick is always calling up to see whether Murray is working," says Mrs. Margaret Gell-Mann, an attractive blond from Birmingham, England. "If I say he's in the garden, Dick is happy for the rest of the day. But if I tell him Murray is doing physics, then Dick gets nervous and immediately wants to come over."
April 28, 2022
Leggere i libri di e su (come in questo caso) Richard P. Feynman consente alla propria mente di ritrovare un po' di ristoro intellettuale che molto più spesso di quanto si desideri può venire meno a causa della profusa follia del mondo di cui si fa esperienza quotidianamente. Leggendolo, mi sono sentito a casa. Grazie, Dick!
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May 8, 2024Man I love Feynman
Feynman trying to quit the National Academy of Sciences is funny af, I can’t believe it took him that many letters.
Feynman trying to quit the National Academy of Sciences is funny af, I can’t believe it took him that many letters.
January 30, 2018
Richard Feynman yra ne vieno „geeko“ idealas: fizikas, Nobelio premijos laureatas, labai sveiko požiūrio į visokią pompastiką ir biurokratiją (nors kaip tik kiti sako, kad „pasikėlęs“), aštriai juokingas ir įžvalgus. Kitos jo knygos („Surely, You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman“, „What Do You Care What Other People Think“) yra labiau anekdotinių pasakojimų rinkiniai, o ši – dokumentinė jo laiškų rinktinė. Gal dėl to jį perskaičius Feynman atrodo labiau žmogiškas ir ne tiek užrietęs nosį: kartais jis pats pripažįsta, jog savo pasisakymais yra perspaudęs, atsiprašo, supranta savo klaidas.
Labai jaudinantys ir jo asmeniniai laiškai savo mylimosioms: pirmoji žmona sunkiai sirgo ir ji anksti mirė. Apie antrąją žmoną beveik neužsiminta, mat knygos sudarytoja – Feynmano įsivaikinta dukra, kuri atsirado jau jam gyvenant su trečiąja žmona. Sakoma, jog neilgai trukusi santuoka nutrūko dėl to, kad antroji žmona labai greit suprato, jog neįmanoma gyventi su žmogumi, kuris rytais pabudęs spręndžia diferencialines lygtis. Matyt, tiesos tame galėjo būti.
Tam, kam Richard Feynman yra sektinas pavyzdys, ši knyga nuostabiai atskleis jo įvairiapusę asmenybę. Tie, kas dar jo nepažįsta, tikriausiai pažintį turėtų pradėti kitomis jo knygomis.
Labai jaudinantys ir jo asmeniniai laiškai savo mylimosioms: pirmoji žmona sunkiai sirgo ir ji anksti mirė. Apie antrąją žmoną beveik neužsiminta, mat knygos sudarytoja – Feynmano įsivaikinta dukra, kuri atsirado jau jam gyvenant su trečiąja žmona. Sakoma, jog neilgai trukusi santuoka nutrūko dėl to, kad antroji žmona labai greit suprato, jog neįmanoma gyventi su žmogumi, kuris rytais pabudęs spręndžia diferencialines lygtis. Matyt, tiesos tame galėjo būti.
Tam, kam Richard Feynman yra sektinas pavyzdys, ši knyga nuostabiai atskleis jo įvairiapusę asmenybę. Tie, kas dar jo nepažįsta, tikriausiai pažintį turėtų pradėti kitomis jo knygomis.
May 18, 2015
Very good, and likely the best I've read of/by/on Feynman. I've always felt that the Feynman depicted in Surely You're Joking and Gleick's Genius felt pained – maybe a bit largely than life, if you will. While it's perfectly understandable, the picture of a fun-loving, quirky, womanizing physicist always felt overly romanticized. Reading his unadulterated communication felt voyeuristic, but my model of Feyman evolved and felt altogether more humanistic.
An absolutely brilliant physicist and a gem of a human, though he has his moments of anger, misunderstanding, and even in some cases, pettiness (the overly blithe attitude that's been associated with him always felt a bit off). Admittedly, some of his communication with his first wife made me tear up – I can only hope to feel the same level of connection with someone. While 50% or so of his letters felt trivial, the few letters I'm going to be re-reading for years made this worth the slog. Highly recommended for Feynman enthusiasts.
An absolutely brilliant physicist and a gem of a human, though he has his moments of anger, misunderstanding, and even in some cases, pettiness (the overly blithe attitude that's been associated with him always felt a bit off). Admittedly, some of his communication with his first wife made me tear up – I can only hope to feel the same level of connection with someone. While 50% or so of his letters felt trivial, the few letters I'm going to be re-reading for years made this worth the slog. Highly recommended for Feynman enthusiasts.
December 7, 2023
Beautiful insights into his personality from his letters. What a wonderful human being. RPF: Sorry to report higher mgmt has not changed.
page 405 RPF to John Young December 8, 1986 On the Challenger accident.
"I was particularly impressed by the careful analysis exhibition in the testimony of Mr Hartsfield, yourself and the other astronauts during one of our public meetings. It seemed that you were the only people thinking about the future, and the causes of things in a clear way. It soon became apparent that the testimony of higher management was a bit muddleheaded about why they weren't told, why the system broke down, etc. They weren't told because they didn't want to hear any doubts or bad news.... I hear the same thing is happening again--complex questions being hidden in innocuous little "bullets" so even the joint certifying committee is having trouble getting information.
Is there anything you astronauts can do to clean the Augean stable?
Sincerely RPF
page 405 RPF to John Young December 8, 1986 On the Challenger accident.
"I was particularly impressed by the careful analysis exhibition in the testimony of Mr Hartsfield, yourself and the other astronauts during one of our public meetings. It seemed that you were the only people thinking about the future, and the causes of things in a clear way. It soon became apparent that the testimony of higher management was a bit muddleheaded about why they weren't told, why the system broke down, etc. They weren't told because they didn't want to hear any doubts or bad news.... I hear the same thing is happening again--complex questions being hidden in innocuous little "bullets" so even the joint certifying committee is having trouble getting information.
Is there anything you astronauts can do to clean the Augean stable?
Sincerely RPF
July 7, 2011
I listened to this on cd. Professor Feynman had a fantastic sense of himself and his strengths, and weaknesses, and it is interesting to hear how he lived his life through his own words. The letters that he wrote, and were wrote to him, are well narrated and given a real life to them. It shows a man who knew exactly who he was and what honor, truth, and scientific research means without becoming egocentric or self-involved. Truly a fantastic audiobook and person.
August 11, 2015
Feynman has become a cult figure for some, though I saw no evidence to support why this might have happened. The book was so thick, and he seemed so ordinary, I couldn't wrap my mind around the attraction.
July 4, 2011
I am addicted to Feynman. Everything about him, everything he writes, anything about his life its a total addiction! Can't get enough. Surely your Joking Mr. Feynman was still the best though.
August 4, 2011
What a cool dude. I happened upon this book on my dad's shelf and it gave me giggles and chuckles, And it made me cry big dripping tears that landed in fat globs on the page. Feynman was awesome.
February 5, 2016
Very enjoyable (if reading someone else's letters is appropriate :) )
November 28, 2021
Don't You Have Time to Think? is a collection of letters to and from Richard P Feynman, collated by his daughter Michelle Feynman. I start my review with that because, whether through stupidity or I don't know what, every time I went to read this I forgot what it was and was then put out by the series of letters confronting me.
When I finally accepted what it was, I had a very enjoyably time reading it. Not a book to be relentlessly read in a few days, it instead merits a slower approach. Read a few letters at a time. Ordered chronologically, it gives a very unusual approach to a biography of the famous physicist. Rather than focussing on achievements, or the trials and tribulations of his work, we get to experience the great path integral pioneer's work through the prism of what he happened to be corresponding about at the time.
From letters to the public who'd seen his TV programmes, to discussions with the school board about which text books should be adopted for children, to ducking administrative tasks, we see a very much broader array of activity than any standard biography is likely to give. In this, the book is a brilliant piece of editing on the part of Michelle Feynman - who, given her crucial role in bringing this together, I'm a little annoyed isn't listed as the author or editor on the front. Her annotations and explanations of letters and seamless weaving of it all together does, I believe, deserve more recognition than her zero mentions on cover or spine imply.
On the topic of editing, the book is a little long. I could have done with a couple fewer 'well done on the Nobel' letters from 1965. There are some longer letters to and from Feynman that really should have been excised (one on the theory of sensation is particularly tedious). At times, it felt like this was all of Feynman's correspondence, giving the book an unwelcome sense of being a catalogue rather than a book to be read.
Luckily, such issues don't greatly weigh down he book, though I fear some may be put off by the shear length of the thing (over 450 pages). One part of that length which I thoroughly appreciated was the appendices. From articles written by Caltech students to an essay by Feynman on the teaching of mathematics, these were very much 'part of the book', rather than the type of appendices which are better ignored.
The book is probably at its best when the science and the Nobel Prize falls away and we are left with Feynman, the father and educator. Time and again Feynman is seen patiently replying to parents concerned about their children (yes, a Nobel Prize winning physicist did reply to such letters). And time and again, he would give the same type of advice: encourage your children in whatever it is that they are passionate about and worry about the applications or where it will take them later. All this is underpinned by a fundamental belief in truth and reason that is very refreshing in an era where terms like 'post-truth' are bandied about, making this just about the best parenting advice I imagine can be found anywhere.
Perhaps the central reason I enjoyed this book so much is that it straight-up resonated with me. His focus on finding out the truth and not being fobbed off with pseudo-explanations; with having to understand stuff from a fundamental level himself and not accepting it on authority; and his wide-ranging interests ("when you get older you find nearly everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough") so chimed with me that I suppose it is no surprise I enjoyed this book. Of course, for those of a different mindset they may find his insistent questioning or naïve style grating. Personally, this book offered a wonderful opportunity to study up close someone I very much identify with and have always admired.
When I finally accepted what it was, I had a very enjoyably time reading it. Not a book to be relentlessly read in a few days, it instead merits a slower approach. Read a few letters at a time. Ordered chronologically, it gives a very unusual approach to a biography of the famous physicist. Rather than focussing on achievements, or the trials and tribulations of his work, we get to experience the great path integral pioneer's work through the prism of what he happened to be corresponding about at the time.
From letters to the public who'd seen his TV programmes, to discussions with the school board about which text books should be adopted for children, to ducking administrative tasks, we see a very much broader array of activity than any standard biography is likely to give. In this, the book is a brilliant piece of editing on the part of Michelle Feynman - who, given her crucial role in bringing this together, I'm a little annoyed isn't listed as the author or editor on the front. Her annotations and explanations of letters and seamless weaving of it all together does, I believe, deserve more recognition than her zero mentions on cover or spine imply.
On the topic of editing, the book is a little long. I could have done with a couple fewer 'well done on the Nobel' letters from 1965. There are some longer letters to and from Feynman that really should have been excised (one on the theory of sensation is particularly tedious). At times, it felt like this was all of Feynman's correspondence, giving the book an unwelcome sense of being a catalogue rather than a book to be read.
Luckily, such issues don't greatly weigh down he book, though I fear some may be put off by the shear length of the thing (over 450 pages). One part of that length which I thoroughly appreciated was the appendices. From articles written by Caltech students to an essay by Feynman on the teaching of mathematics, these were very much 'part of the book', rather than the type of appendices which are better ignored.
The book is probably at its best when the science and the Nobel Prize falls away and we are left with Feynman, the father and educator. Time and again Feynman is seen patiently replying to parents concerned about their children (yes, a Nobel Prize winning physicist did reply to such letters). And time and again, he would give the same type of advice: encourage your children in whatever it is that they are passionate about and worry about the applications or where it will take them later. All this is underpinned by a fundamental belief in truth and reason that is very refreshing in an era where terms like 'post-truth' are bandied about, making this just about the best parenting advice I imagine can be found anywhere.
Perhaps the central reason I enjoyed this book so much is that it straight-up resonated with me. His focus on finding out the truth and not being fobbed off with pseudo-explanations; with having to understand stuff from a fundamental level himself and not accepting it on authority; and his wide-ranging interests ("when you get older you find nearly everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough") so chimed with me that I suppose it is no surprise I enjoyed this book. Of course, for those of a different mindset they may find his insistent questioning or naïve style grating. Personally, this book offered a wonderful opportunity to study up close someone I very much identify with and have always admired.
October 30, 2021
It's a fun book that overstays its welcome. While reading Feynman's outgoing correspondence is a great way to get a feeling for the man behind the anecdotes, half of the book is other people's letters to Feynman! I tried to read this book exclusively, all in one go, but that was JUST TOO MUCH FEYNMAN. Instead, it works much better as a bathroom reader, or something that you can pick up and put down for a few pages at a time.
I came away from this book thinking I really need to up my letter writing skills.
I came away from this book thinking I really need to up my letter writing skills.
June 23, 2025
Feynmans letters etc
Good stuff
Good stuff
January 1, 2025
what an opportune time for some reasonable deviations. The personal letters to his first wife seemed a little too private for inclusion but really painted a beautiful picture of their relationship. Always love hearing more feynman stories, he had a hand in so many amazing things. Also it was crazy to hear the medical issues that he was able to survive, and his involvement with the space shuttle program and early AI musings
November 2, 2011
As you can tell by the title, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations... is a collection of letters written by Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. To me, it was intriguing, and there are letters here that would appeal to anyone, but I think you'd have to be (like me) a Feynman fan already, anxious to know everything about the man, to enjoy reading the book from cover to cover.
Anyone considering reading this book should first read Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character. After they enjoy that, they should try What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character. If they also like that, then they might try Perfectly Reasonable Deviations.... Among titles not written by Feynman, I enjoyed the biography Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick, and have heard very good things about No Ordinary Genius by Christopher Sykes, which daughter Michelle Feynman recommends in her introduction to Perfectly Reasonable Deviations.... If, after reading those, one still wants more, the letters will be waiting here.
Anyone considering reading this book should first read Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character. After they enjoy that, they should try What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character. If they also like that, then they might try Perfectly Reasonable Deviations.... Among titles not written by Feynman, I enjoyed the biography Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick, and have heard very good things about No Ordinary Genius by Christopher Sykes, which daughter Michelle Feynman recommends in her introduction to Perfectly Reasonable Deviations.... If, after reading those, one still wants more, the letters will be waiting here.
March 29, 2015
This book is a collection of letters that were written to and by Richard Feynman, a great person, a Nobel laureate in Physics, a great iconoclast, and a beautiful, beautiful man. These letters span his lifetime, from his letters when he first left his parents to study at Princeton and MIT, to his love and wife Arline, and later to Gweneth among the many letters he wrote (and this surprises many that he did, and did so much).
His willingness and excitement to communicate the most complex of problems in the simplest of analogies is evident when he responds to small students, and awkward fan mails from the orient. A person is not just what is described by the press, or by his autobiographies, or by his friends and family, no, the world is much bigger than that! We meet far more people than that and we touch many lives, in some way. What these people think of us, and how we touched them is a much larger picture. This book, is an example of how he fared and to me, he was phenomenal. And that is not it, he still continues to inspire people, like he inspires me. Ironically, he also authored ‘What do you care what other people think?’ but there is no conflict...
How does one review someone’s life, or letters that were meant for individuals, without a purpose of being published one day, perhaps, as a compendium mirror of your image? Does one write a letter to be critiqued by posterity on what he told an individual about? I think it would be none of our business, except to enjoy them while we can, if we can, and have opinions...
This isn't the complete review, but I sure am on to one long discussion about Richard Feynman. To read the complete review, please visit Aesthetic Blasphemy: Don't you have time to think by Richard Feynman
His willingness and excitement to communicate the most complex of problems in the simplest of analogies is evident when he responds to small students, and awkward fan mails from the orient. A person is not just what is described by the press, or by his autobiographies, or by his friends and family, no, the world is much bigger than that! We meet far more people than that and we touch many lives, in some way. What these people think of us, and how we touched them is a much larger picture. This book, is an example of how he fared and to me, he was phenomenal. And that is not it, he still continues to inspire people, like he inspires me. Ironically, he also authored ‘What do you care what other people think?’ but there is no conflict...
How does one review someone’s life, or letters that were meant for individuals, without a purpose of being published one day, perhaps, as a compendium mirror of your image? Does one write a letter to be critiqued by posterity on what he told an individual about? I think it would be none of our business, except to enjoy them while we can, if we can, and have opinions...
This isn't the complete review, but I sure am on to one long discussion about Richard Feynman. To read the complete review, please visit Aesthetic Blasphemy: Don't you have time to think by Richard Feynman
December 23, 2010
Well-organized and edited collection of letters, some to, most from Richard P. Feynman. Some of them are fascinating, some a bit dull, although which letters fall into which category probably depends on the reader. I most enjoyed the letters to his mother while in college; the congratulatory letters, and his responses, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize; his sharp responses to requests that he viewed as requiring him to violate his strongly-held principles (for example, asking him to attend a conference in the USSR, or to receive an honorary degree), and his thoughtful responses to questions posed by serious students and crackpots alike.
The section I liked least was the exchange of letters between Feynman and his (ill) wife during his Los Alamos years, which was just a little too personal for comfort. Some things should remain a couple's private domain. I did, however, love his description of witnessing the first atomic test.
The audio version was well done, with a male reader for Feynman's letters, and a female reader for letters to Feynman, as well as for the explanatory notes before some of the letters, as the editorial voice of Feynman's daughter Michelle, who put together the book. But I think the text rather than audio version might be better for dipping in a little here, a little there rather than just gulping them all down at once (as I did, with a couple of weeks' break in the middle).
The section I liked least was the exchange of letters between Feynman and his (ill) wife during his Los Alamos years, which was just a little too personal for comfort. Some things should remain a couple's private domain. I did, however, love his description of witnessing the first atomic test.
The audio version was well done, with a male reader for Feynman's letters, and a female reader for letters to Feynman, as well as for the explanatory notes before some of the letters, as the editorial voice of Feynman's daughter Michelle, who put together the book. But I think the text rather than audio version might be better for dipping in a little here, a little there rather than just gulping them all down at once (as I did, with a couple of weeks' break in the middle).
December 6, 2012
I've read very few books of letters, biographies, and autobiographies, so I'm very much in the early stages of calibrating my scales. This is a good book. Not every letter is scintillating or contains a gleaming gem. A minor few seem to be included only for completeness. I would have lost only a little, in one sense, by reading a booklet of the best ten or so.
However, there are certainly gems to be found, some of them very fine, others more like nice shells you find on a beach and then hang onto for a few paces before setting them back down. Some of the letters are incredibly moving, to the point that I wasn't sure I ought to be reading them, others are more straightforwardly touching, and most are at least a little amusing. So what you do gain from reading the extra 400 pages or so you are given here relative to that hypothetical best-of booklet, if not a wealth of extra wisdom or zany genius, is a gradually growing sense of warmth towards a man with a plain love for family, "Nature", teaching, and the joy of discovery, as well as a generosity of spirit that shines through. And if you're anything like me, you get fair bit of inspiration along the same lines.
I'd only read one book by or about Feynman previously, and I'm not sure whether DYHTTT was the best book to read to learn more about the man, or even whether that's what I wanted from it. But I would recommend it, at least to people who could do with being taught a thing or two.
However, there are certainly gems to be found, some of them very fine, others more like nice shells you find on a beach and then hang onto for a few paces before setting them back down. Some of the letters are incredibly moving, to the point that I wasn't sure I ought to be reading them, others are more straightforwardly touching, and most are at least a little amusing. So what you do gain from reading the extra 400 pages or so you are given here relative to that hypothetical best-of booklet, if not a wealth of extra wisdom or zany genius, is a gradually growing sense of warmth towards a man with a plain love for family, "Nature", teaching, and the joy of discovery, as well as a generosity of spirit that shines through. And if you're anything like me, you get fair bit of inspiration along the same lines.
I'd only read one book by or about Feynman previously, and I'm not sure whether DYHTTT was the best book to read to learn more about the man, or even whether that's what I wanted from it. But I would recommend it, at least to people who could do with being taught a thing or two.
February 13, 2019
This collection of letters has brought me to tears in two separate instances. Once out of sadness, and once out of joy.
The first instance was early in the book, when we are given insight into Richard Feynman's relationship with his first wife, Arlene, who for the adult part of their relationship was suffering from an, ultimately, fatal case of Tuberculosis. The letters to his wife were extremely touching, and outlined the great tragedy of it all.
The second instance was while I read the last pair of letters. A concerned father asks for advice on how to encourage his son's love for physics, as he was not doing very well. I will not defile's Feynman's response by trying to summarize it, for I can do it no justice. I will only remark on the fact that it gave me a great sense that there can be goodness, and compassion in this world.
The first instance was early in the book, when we are given insight into Richard Feynman's relationship with his first wife, Arlene, who for the adult part of their relationship was suffering from an, ultimately, fatal case of Tuberculosis. The letters to his wife were extremely touching, and outlined the great tragedy of it all.
The second instance was while I read the last pair of letters. A concerned father asks for advice on how to encourage his son's love for physics, as he was not doing very well. I will not defile's Feynman's response by trying to summarize it, for I can do it no justice. I will only remark on the fact that it gave me a great sense that there can be goodness, and compassion in this world.
October 23, 2014
In a letter to Koichi Mano, 3 Feb 1966:
It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are the worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make a little headway into it.
In a letter to Mark Minguillon, 23 April 1976:
Don't pay attention to "authorities," think for yourself.
It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are the worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make a little headway into it.
In a letter to Mark Minguillon, 23 April 1976:
Don't pay attention to "authorities," think for yourself.
May 18, 2016
There is so much love,modesty,grace,intellect,humour,optimism,clarity of thoughts in Feynman's letters that you can simply admire and appreciate each of them.Some of them overwhelmed me and some of them kept me in awe.How wonderfully he would break difficult problems into small and comprehendible questions and answers.Feynman never failed to call himself a fool when he found out his mistake.The quest in him to find answers about the world about where we have come from is simply brilliant and praiseworthy.It is unlikely you might not fall for him!
A must read for everyone.
A must read for everyone.
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