Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
by Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $8.99
You Save: $6.96 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.26 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Ralph Leighton, Richard P. Feynman
Editor: Edward Hutchings
Introduction: Albert R. Hibbs
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-04-17
ISBN: 0393316041
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.

Book Reviews of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)

Book Review: An extraordinary individual
Summary: 5 Stars

It is hard to imagine that a man who stands like a colossus among physicists over time thinks that the whole thing is actually pretty simple and easy-this book is all about that. Nothing extraordinary about it. As they say, the more elevated the intellect, the more humble the man...read it to believe it. A must for the high school geek taking a keen interest in physics.

Summary of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)

The outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original. In this phenomenal national bestseller, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman recounts in his inimitable voice his adventures trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums and much else of an eyebrow-raising and hilarious nature. A New York Times bestseller; more than 500,000 copies sold.
A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith

Feynman, Richard Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Follow My Reading
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories From the Sketch Book (Signet Classics) ImageThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories From the Sketch Book (Signet Classics)
by Washington Irving
Signet Classics; Published: 2006-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: $5.95
Getting Into Medical School ImageGetting Into Medical School
by Sanford J. Brown
Barron's Educational Series; Published: 2006-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives: Tales of Life and Death from the ER ImageJust Here Trying to Save a Few Lives: Tales of Life and Death from the ER
by Pamela Grim
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2002-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $14.99
Night (Oprah's Book Club) ImageNight (Oprah's Book Club)
by Elie Wiesel
Hill and Wang; Published: 2006-01-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.35
Price in other shops: $9.00
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) ImageSurely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
by Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 1997-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.74
Price in other shops: $15.95
What I Learned in Medical School: Personal Stories of Young Doctors ImageWhat I Learned in Medical School: Personal Stories of Young Doctors
University of California Press; Published: 2005-01-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Sorrows of Young Werther (Modern Library Classics) ImageThe Sorrows of Young Werther (Modern Library Classics)
by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Modern Library; Published: 2005-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.74
Price in other shops: $10.95
Second Opinions: Eight Clinical Dramas of Decision Making on the Front Lines of Medicine ImageSecond Opinions: Eight Clinical Dramas of Decision Making on the Front Lines of Medicine
by Jerome Groopman
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.81
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Art Of War ImageThe Art Of War
by Sun Tzu
Filiquarian; Published: 2007-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.01
Price in other shops: $3.99
Becoming a Physician: A Practical and Creative Guide to Planning a Career in Medicine ImageBecoming a Physician: A Practical and Creative Guide to Planning a Career in Medicine
by Marita Danek
Wiley; Published: 1997-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.86
Price in other shops: $16.95
Similar Books and other products
The Character of Physical Law (Messenger Lectures, 1964) ImageThe Character of Physical Law (Messenger Lectures, 1964)
by Richard Feynman
The MIT Press; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist ImageThe Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist
by Richard P. Feynman
Basic Books; Published: 2005-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.66
Price in other shops: $13.95
Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character ImageClassic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character
by Richard P. Feynman
W. W. Norton; Published: 2005-11-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.25
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition ImageThe Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition
by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands
Addison Wesley; Published: 2005-08-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $115.00
Price in other shops: $195.00
Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman ImageGenius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
by James Gleick
Vintage; Published: 1993-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.70
Price in other shops: $16.95
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Princeton Science Library) ImageQED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Princeton Science Library)
by Richard P. Feynman
Princeton University Press; Published: 2006-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (Helix Books) ImageThe Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (Helix Books)
by Richard P. Feynman
Basic Books; Published: 2005-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.28
Price in other shops: $15.95
Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, And Space-Time ImageSix Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, And Space-Time
by Richard P. Feynman
Basic Books; Published: 2005-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops: $14.95
Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher ImageSix Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher
by Richard P. Feynman
Basic Books; Published: 2005-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops: $13.95
What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character ImageWhat Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character
by Richard P. Feynman
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 2001-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.80
Price in other shops: $15.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories