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42nd out of 1,568 books
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character
Richard Feynman (1918-1988), winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. Here he recounts in his inimitable voice his experience trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek; cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets; painting a naked female toreador - and muc...more
Paperback, 350 pages
Published
April 12th 1997
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1985)
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Actually I originally read this book when I worked at Scribners in 1989, but remembered how great it is and reread it a few months ago.
Feynman is a physicist who taught at Cornell and Princeton, worked on the Manhattan Project and won the Nobel Prize. He's also a complete hoot. The book is a series of autobiographical stories -- pranks pulled as a student at MIT and at Los Alamos, teaching himself to paint, scientific discoveries he made, his three marriages, how he was rejected by t...more
Feynman is a physicist who taught at Cornell and Princeton, worked on the Manhattan Project and won the Nobel Prize. He's also a complete hoot. The book is a series of autobiographical stories -- pranks pulled as a student at MIT and at Los Alamos, teaching himself to paint, scientific discoveries he made, his three marriages, how he was rejected by t...more
Otis Chandler
rated it
Recommends it for:
Curious cats
Recommended to Otis by:
Adrian Danieli
Shelves:
nonfiction,
science
This book was a pure delight. The subtitle "Adventures of a Curious Character" is spot-on. Feynman gave an amazingly human and honest view into his philosophy and take on life, thought a series of stories.
One thing that struck me most deeply was his passion for learning new things. You would think a world-famous Physicist would just be passionate for Physics - but Feynman was curious about everything he saw. He dabbled in art and was successful enough to have a show, he joi...more
One thing that struck me most deeply was his passion for learning new things. You would think a world-famous Physicist would just be passionate for Physics - but Feynman was curious about everything he saw. He dabbled in art and was successful enough to have a show, he joi...more
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This book of anecdotes is written in a very casual, fun way that makes it easy to read. The problem is that the author, Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Dick Feynman, is annoying. All the anecdotes involve him discovering a hidden talent, using it, delighting others (or himself if that's his real goal) and then being applauded for it (sometimes only by himself). For example, he discovers that he's a great artist, musician, safecracker, and critic. Everything revolves around him showing off and bein...more
Brilliant, inspirational and very funny!
There can be no argument that Richard P Feynman was a genius. He has been a hero of mine since I was very young, probably because my father also greatly admires him and spoke to me about Feynman and his unique personality from time to time.
There are some great stories in this book and they will make you laugh out loud. Feynman was always so full of life and he was curious about absolutely everything from a very early age. He would a...more
There can be no argument that Richard P Feynman was a genius. He has been a hero of mine since I was very young, probably because my father also greatly admires him and spoke to me about Feynman and his unique personality from time to time.
There are some great stories in this book and they will make you laugh out loud. Feynman was always so full of life and he was curious about absolutely everything from a very early age. He would a...more
Everyone has a collection of favorite stories that they enjoy telling; but it's unusual for the stories to be so good that a friend insists on writing them down, so that other people can appreciate them too. When I read this book, I almost feel that Feynman's telling the stories himself. Well, when that happens in real life, you always want to join in; here's my personal best effort at a Feynman-type anecdote. I hope it's now far enough in the past that the people concerned will see the funny si...more
Laugh out loud funny. My dad read this outloud to us when we were kids - I'm guessing at the exact year - and the whole family literally cried with laughter many times during the performance.
Feyman's other memoirs are good too, but this is the funniest. I still think of it often. For instance, every time I use a combination lock, I think of his safe-cracking phase, and how it's every child's dream to learn how to crack safes and get at all that secret and valuable stuff. Which reall...more
Feyman's other memoirs are good too, but this is the funniest. I still think of it often. For instance, every time I use a combination lock, I think of his safe-cracking phase, and how it's every child's dream to learn how to crack safes and get at all that secret and valuable stuff. Which reall...more
This amusing little book of anecdotes had an alarmingly influential role in my life. It convinced me of the odd notion that it would be a good idea to go to Caltech and major in physics. In retrospect, this would have been a better idea had I been born around 1930 and was starting my scientific career around 1940, but nowadays it's a tough slog in physics, both money-wise and also discovery-wise. I think that people like Bohr and Planck and Einstein and Feynman discovered all the good stuff i...more
A fascinating read, and also surprisingly hilarious! I didn't expect to burst out laughing while reading the autobiography of a physicist but that's what ended up happening -- Feynman definitely was a first class prankster! Although physics are often mentioned, you don't need to really know about it to be able to enjoy the book; this is more about his life than his work. It's a joy to read about how much this man enjoys learning, not only physics but also music (bongo player!), painting and so o...more
Mara
rated it
Recommends it for:
curious characters, nerds, and anyone who likes an adventure
Shelves:
nonfiction
When it comes to Feynman's humility, I think this is a case of "The lady doth protest too much". He is constantly asserting that prizes, awards, accolades, and the regard of others mean nothing to him, but then you have to wonder what the point of this book was? (Post-mortem interviews with his friends also seemed to indicate the humility was feigned, and pretty poorly so) Still, that and Feynman's vehement atheism are my only marks against this book which ought to inspire people every...more
I read this book during graduation and I have read it over 10 times since. It has recollections made by Richard Feynman. Strange as it may seem that the semi autobiography of Nobel winning scientist is so humorous and a great pick for light reading.
The single most best thing about the book is that it doesn’t have any plot; you can flip open to any chapter and start reading. This book contains a series of pranks that Feynman pulled during his time as a student at M.I.T, his time...more
The single most best thing about the book is that it doesn’t have any plot; you can flip open to any chapter and start reading. This book contains a series of pranks that Feynman pulled during his time as a student at M.I.T, his time...more
This is an excellent book that should be on anyone's top 50 books on Science. It captures the texture and spirit of the scientific community in an authentic voice of an important physicist who witnessed some of the most important science of the 20th Century, including the development of the atomic bomb. It is funny, personal and (sometimes brutally) honest. It makes scientific thinking transparent, allowing the reader to participate in science as a process or a mode of thinking. It allows ou...more
A fantastic book. This work recounts a number of chronological stories in Richard Feynman's life, taking us through his childhood, education, work on the Manhattan Project, career, and more. Most of the stories are hilarious. Feynman is consistently intriguing and inspiring.
One of the more amusing stories is "Safecracker Meets Safecracker" - while working on 'The Bomb' at Los Alamos, Feynman learned how to get into the locked file cabinets on the base. When he needed a docum...more
One of the more amusing stories is "Safecracker Meets Safecracker" - while working on 'The Bomb' at Los Alamos, Feynman learned how to get into the locked file cabinets on the base. When he needed a docum...more
My favorite Feynman. Michelle (the wife) and I had a book swap where she picked a book for me and I picked a book for her. I made her listen to this one. See her review of it for how non-scientist persons may like this book. As for me I loved it. Feynman was a very inspiring writer, he just makes you want to go out and discover and experiment and ask 'why?'. I find his personality to be almost childlike in curiosity and naiveness. I find his books to be very genuine as he's able to make feelings...more
Disclaimer: I am a nerd, and I am made even nerdier by my enjoyment of reading biographies of nerds past. But as scientist (auto-)bios go, this is one of the best.
The good news for lesser nerds than I is that the style is not overly science-y, but it is definitely indicative of the way Feynman's mind work. Many of the stories are great anecdotes for whipping out at cocktail parties (i.e., Feynman used to do work over lunch at strip clubs because [he claims] the food was cheap and peo...more
The good news for lesser nerds than I is that the style is not overly science-y, but it is definitely indicative of the way Feynman's mind work. Many of the stories are great anecdotes for whipping out at cocktail parties (i.e., Feynman used to do work over lunch at strip clubs because [he claims] the food was cheap and peo...more
There’s presumably a rule where only smart people are awarded Nobel Prizes in Physics. Richard Feynman was no exception. This memoir is filled with anecdotes from his childhood spent fixing radios, his experiences as a young man doing bomb research at Los Alamos up through his days as a renowned professor at Cal Tech. The central theme was always that this is one smart cookie. It was interesting to pick up on his thought processes. It probably didn’t feature as much pure science as most of ...more
Feynman is somewhat of a rascal, one with undeniable genius, but a rascal nonetheless. I expected this to be a book that would confirm my ideal of the contemplative and infinitely wise physicist along the lines of Einstein, Born, and Oppenheimer, but instead, this turned out to be an account of the adventures of the boyish Dick Feynman getting into all sorts of troubles and adventures. Feynman is the exact opposite of what one would expect a Nobel laureate physicist would be like. He is rough ar...more
This book has an unusual style. The book begins with a sickeningly smug nostalgic journey through the childhood of a genius. Feynman was clever, he knew it and he wanted to prove it to everyone he met with endless smug anecdotes from his childhood! He seemed forever uneasy, and so overcompensated by trying to be the life and sole of every party. He always attempting to get into situations that would make good stories later, probably so that he could hide behind this flamboyant image and keep peo...more
Per sua ammissione, Feynman aveva in testa solo la fisica. Ed in quello era, come disse Bethe, un grande mago. Tuttavia ha avuto molte e diverse esperienze nel corso della sua vita, dimostrando quantomeno di essere aperto alla sperimentazione - sebbene fosse fisico teorico.
Questa è la prima parte del racconto delle sue vicende, che lo seguono dall'infanzia alla maturità. Seduttore di donne, suonatore di bonghi, pittore, conferenziere, elettrochimico e altro ancora: Feynman proietta una immagine...more
Questa è la prima parte del racconto delle sue vicende, che lo seguono dall'infanzia alla maturità. Seduttore di donne, suonatore di bonghi, pittore, conferenziere, elettrochimico e altro ancora: Feynman proietta una immagine...more
Immen
added it
I've just read this, quite illegally, on http://www.gorgorat.com/, somewhat to my bemusement.
I wasn't really intending to read the whole thing -- I remember how impossibly long it seemed my first time through, when I must have been 8 or so. Actually, it was so impossibly long, I didn't get through all of it. I distinctly recall I found the chapter "7 percent solution" difficult to follow. But it's funny reading this again! I just kept tumbling along from story to story, an...more
I wasn't really intending to read the whole thing -- I remember how impossibly long it seemed my first time through, when I must have been 8 or so. Actually, it was so impossibly long, I didn't get through all of it. I distinctly recall I found the chapter "7 percent solution" difficult to follow. But it's funny reading this again! I just kept tumbling along from story to story, an...more
Liz
rated it
Recommends it for:
Anyone who wonders how a scientist thinks
Recommended to Liz by:
Mark--child genius
I found a 16 year old stranded at a coffee shop and gave him a ride home. This child turned out to be some sort of prodigy, who described his passion for physics, time travel and quarks.
I felt like a 3 year old, talking to a physics professor about a subject I have never studied. He was fascinating, inspiring and willing to explain complex theories--at my level of understanding.
When I dropped him off, I asked for a reading list of his favorite "beginner" phy...more
I felt like a 3 year old, talking to a physics professor about a subject I have never studied. He was fascinating, inspiring and willing to explain complex theories--at my level of understanding.
When I dropped him off, I asked for a reading list of his favorite "beginner" phy...more
This series of anecdotes from the life of physicist Richard Feynman was interesting for the most part- they are about such varied experiences as taking apart radios as a kid to participating in the Manhattan project, learning Samba drumming in Brazil, and becoming an amateur safe-cracker, but also I got the feeling that I might not necessarily want to have heard the stories from Feynman himself b/c he sort of comes off like the kind of person who likes to hear himself talk and always thinks he'...more
The Nobel prize winning physicist, acclaimed drummer, artist, expert on Mayan astronomy, safecracker, prankster, etc, etc, tells “crazy adventures” of his life. They’re really not “crazy adventures,” these anecdotes; my own father's are easily just as rich and bizarre. Feynman came off to me as a somewhat unpleasant character: he was full to the brim of himself; his false modesty (“I’m too dim to realize when to keep my mouth shut, I just say what I think”) was cloying and annoying, as were hi...more
One of the problems with reading a book written by a genius is that you have to ask yourself whether any perceived deficiencies in the text are due to the author, or due to your own failure to comprehend his brilliance. That said, I wasn't thrilled by this book. On a purely technical level, it would have benefited from a stronger editor. While there's a rough chronological order to the material, there tends to be a lot of jumping around both within and between the chapters. A few times, Feynman ...more
Even if you’ve never heard of the Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman, you have absolutely heard of his work: The Manhattan Project. Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman an autobiography that reads like a collection of short stories. Each chapter is a different anecdote from the incredibly influential life of Dick Feynman. What I found most interesting about this book is that “the bomb” is the central theme of only ONE of these chapters, and even then, it plays second fiddle to the recount...more
Funny anecdotes from a vibrant, and indeed curious character. Makes me wish I knew a little more Physics, so I could share in his contagious enthusiasm for the subject. (Yeah right, like there's a Quantum Field Theory crash course somewhere that I can just take.) He was just plain giddy about science sometimes. I totally agreed with his views on some math and science textbooks, and how the school system sometimes tends to promote rote memorization instead of trying to make the students understan...more
Richard Feynman is definitely an admirable fellow. He's extremely intelligent and has an enviable work ethic. Some of the stories in this book are fascinating illuminations on times and places I know little about. His voice in prose is not very appealing to me, however.
I'm not sure what it is that bothers me about the way he talks or writes (I gather from the preface that these stories are essentially dicatations). Heather felt he was caddish, and it's clear that he had a fascinati...more
I'm not sure what it is that bothers me about the way he talks or writes (I gather from the preface that these stories are essentially dicatations). Heather felt he was caddish, and it's clear that he had a fascinati...more
Aptly titled book by the physicist, Richard Feynman. I was a little intimidated at the concept of reading this - beyond a brief overview in 8th grade, I've never studied physics. However, it's more of a collection of anecdotes about a guy who has led an interesting life but happens to be incredibly smart in certain things. You can understand why some people question the programs about the Manhattan Project as they brush on Feynman's contributions. He seems to have been there mainly for comic rel...more
Recommend for anyone interested in learning about an infectiously curious, free-spirited adventurer.
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Curiosity - is this something we're taught to lose over our 'growth' in the educational systems of today? When did YOU stop asking those questions that made you giggle and squeal when you were younger?
Mr. Feynman is a very curious man and it has lead him through so many different facets of life. This book runs you through quite a ...more
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Curiosity - is this something we're taught to lose over our 'growth' in the educational systems of today? When did YOU stop asking those questions that made you giggle and squeal when you were younger?
Mr. Feynman is a very curious man and it has lead him through so many different facets of life. This book runs you through quite a ...more
i didn't really read this, but goodreads won't let you choose "read some of this and decided to throw it against a wall but then realized i was in a library and it's not cool to throw library books against a wall ..." i only got through one essay, chosen at random, because i've been curious about this book for a while. i had some time in the library one day and decided to attend to that curiosity. here's my re-enactment of said essay:
people don't think because they don't ...more
people don't think because they don't ...more
Το βιβλίο αυτό το πρωτοέπιασα όταν ήμουν στο γυμνάσιο! Τότε που όλοι ονειρεύονται να αλλάξουν τον κόσμο. Από τότε το έχω διαβάσει τουλάχιστον άλλες 10 φορές όλες σε διαφορετική ηλικία. Είναι ένα βιβλίο που με συμάδεψε σαν άνθρωπο και σαν αναγνώστη.
Δεν είναι ένα απλό βιβλίο εκλαϊκευμένης φυσικής, ούτε μια απλή βιογραφία. Περισσότερο έχει να κάνει με το πώς βλέπει το κόσμο μία διάνοια. Ένας άνθρωπος με ένα μυαλό που πάντα αναρωτιόταν για τα πάντα. Για τα πιο προφανή.
Και όλα αυτά είναιδ...more
Δεν είναι ένα απλό βιβλίο εκλαϊκευμένης φυσικής, ούτε μια απλή βιογραφία. Περισσότερο έχει να κάνει με το πώς βλέπει το κόσμο μία διάνοια. Ένας άνθρωπος με ένα μυαλό που πάντα αναρωτιόταν για τα πάντα. Για τα πιο προφανή.
Και όλα αυτά είναιδ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodreads Librarians: Books merge needed | 4 | 21 | Jan 08, 2012 01:43am | |
| Feynman | 12 | 94 | Dec 12, 2011 04:11am | |
| The Aspiring Poly...: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! | 9 | 21 | Sep 28, 2011 10:54am |
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Richard 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 Pr...more
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“Well, Mr. Frankel, who started this program, began to suffer from the computer disease that anybody who works with computers now knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is you *play* with them. They are so wonderful. You have these switches - if it's an even number you do this, if it's an odd number you do that - and pretty soon you can do more and more elaborate things if you are clever enough, on one machine.
After a while the whole system broke down. Frankel wasn't paying any attention; he wasn't supervising anybody. The system was going very, very slowly - while he was sitting in a room figuring out how to make one tabulator automatically print arc-tangent X, and then it would start and it would print columns and then bitsi, bitsi, bitsi, and calculate the arc-tangent automatically by integrating as it went along and make a whole table in one operation.
Absolutely useless. We *had* tables of arc-tangents. But if you've ever worked with computers, you understand the disease - the *delight* in being able to see how much you can do. But he got the disease for the first time, the poor fellow who invented the thing.”
—
19 people liked it
After a while the whole system broke down. Frankel wasn't paying any attention; he wasn't supervising anybody. The system was going very, very slowly - while he was sitting in a room figuring out how to make one tabulator automatically print arc-tangent X, and then it would start and it would print columns and then bitsi, bitsi, bitsi, and calculate the arc-tangent automatically by integrating as it went along and make a whole table in one operation.
Absolutely useless. We *had* tables of arc-tangents. But if you've ever worked with computers, you understand the disease - the *delight* in being able to see how much you can do. But he got the disease for the first time, the poor fellow who invented the thing.”
“I couldn't claim that I was smarter than sixty-five other guys--but the average of sixty-five other guys, certainly!”
—
14 people liked it
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