Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
by Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ralph Leighton, Richard P. FeynmanEditor: 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 & Company
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780393316049
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
Book Review: ...Nope, he's not joking!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a wonderful, wonderful collection of a few of Feynman's many crazy adventures; and a must read for both science and non-science folk alike! :)
Before reading this book, I regarded Feynman solely as an intellectual heavy-weight - i.e. A man of extreme brilliance and depth, because everything I knew of him prior to this book was based on my exposure to his groundbreaking contributions in physics and from a series of videos on Youtube ("The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" -where I encountered his profound philosophical ruminations on science, and life at large, for that matter).
None of this, however, could have ever even hinted at the possibly that this same figure was also renowned during his lifetime for his charming personality, cheeky humor, his tendency to pursue a spectrum of diverse interests (some of which have garnered him a certain notoriety), and his unabashed outspokenness in scenarios where lesser men would've opted to be mute.
Essentially, this book allowed me to go beyond the extraordinary science and philosophy that dominate and define a good part of Feynman's life, and to view this charismatic person in a completely new light... It was a real pleasure reading this book, and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone: It's a roller coaster of laughs for sure, including some truly eyebrow raising moments, but somewhere along the ride it also manages to pack in some truly great messages... Ones that shall illuminate and inspire a whole generation to come. :)
More Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) reviews:
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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
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