Richard P. Feynman, No Ordinary Genius!

By Judith Light Feather The title of the video on the right sums up the mindset of one the most intriguing scientists of our time. Professor Feynman truly understood the reason for studying science and math, which he tried to explain throughout his lifetime. He en oyed teaching physics and as he answered unusual !uestions posed "y his students, he found new facets of ideas that were stimulated for his wor# as a theoretical physicist. $hy and why not% These were always !uestions he encouraged and expected from all students. &n '((), & read his now famous speech, *There is Plenty of +oom at the Bottom,, which challenged the minds of physicists to explore the world of atoms at the nano scale of science. -ince that time, & have wanted to #now more a"out this physicist who was also a visionary. .s & posted the "oo# review on our we"site last month, announcing the release of *Perfect +easona"le /eviations from the Beaten Trac#0 The Letters of +ichard P. Feynman,, & decided to loo# for some other "oo#s that might give me some insight into his life and his genius. $hile searching his pu"lications, & decided on an older "oo# first, which might introduce me to the man "ehind the science. The title was intriguing, so & ordered *-urely 1ou2re Jo#ing, 3r. Feynman4,5 .dventures of a 6urious 6haracter, which opened the door into the mind of +ichard P. Feynman, allowing me to discover through his eyes and thoughts, a worldview that matched my own vision. +eading the "oo# had me wishing that & could have met 3r. Feynman while he was alive and exchanged thoughts with him on many su" ects covered in his writings. & had a very strong desire to feel his presence so "efore & started writing this profile, & visited the we"site that mar#ets his audio tapes and listened to a few of the trac#s to hear his voice. His enthusiasm and sense of humor were very much evident in the stories recorded on those tapes, which were the "asis for his "oo#s. & am sure that & will "e collecting the entire set of tapes, along with the rest of his "oo#s and videos. They would ma#e a great pac#age of learning materials to stimulate the minds of students to explore their world, as# !uestions on everything they see in nature and experience the world with humor and curiosity. 3any of the discussions that ta#e place concerning education are directed at the lac# of stimulating materials that would challenge a student to enter the many scientific fields of discovery. This thought "rings me "ac# to one of the !uestions that reviewers of grant proposals for education pro ects seem to as# each time we su"mit a proposal. *$hy do all children need to learn science since very few will actually "ecome scientists%, 3y answer has always "een0 *-cience is the study of nature and how the physical world wor#s4 Therefore, if you ma#e the classes interesting and challenging, rather than re!uiring the rote memori7ation of facts, la"els and theories, more students would choose to learn science and try the experiments. 1ou need to get them off the pages of the text"oo# and into the real world of discovery. They need to as# $hy%... and $hy not%... in order to learn., 3r. Feynman as#ed a similar !uestion after teaching a semester of science in Bra7il and reali7ed that the students did not learn any real science, they ust memori7ed facts to pass the test. Therefore, when

he was invited "y the students to give a review of his experiences of teaching in Bra7il, he as#ed if he could spea# candidly, without any limits, and they agreed. As the lecture hall was full, he started out by defining science as an understanding of the behavior of nature. Then he asked, What is a good reason for teaching science?, allowing of course, that no country can consider itself civilized unless Then he stated that, The main ur ose of my talk is to demonstrate to you that !" science is being taught in #razil$% &e went on to oint out that he was very e'cited u on arriving in #razil, that he noticed so many young elementary school students were buying books on hysics, as they do not teach hysics to young children in the (nited )tates. &owever, the reason he found that amazing was that you do not find many hysicists in #raziland he was wonderingWhy is that? )o many kids are working so hard and nothing comes of it. Then he held u the elementary hysics te'tbook they were using. There are no e' erimental results mentioned anywhere in this book, e'ce t in one lace where there is a ball, rolling down an inclined lane, in which it says how far the ball got after one second, two seconds, three seconds, and so on. The numbers have *errors+ in them,,, that is if you look at them, you think you+re looking at e' erimental results, because the numbers are a little above, or a little below, the theoretical values. The book even talks about having to correct the e' erimental errors,,,very fine. The trouble is, when you calculate the value of the acceleration constant from these values, you get the right answer. #ut a ball rolling down an inclined lane, if it is actually done, has an inertia to get it to turn, and will if you do the e' eriment, roduce five,sevenths of the right answer, because of the e'tra energy needed to go into the rotation of the ball. Therefore, this single e'am le of e' erimental *results+ is obtained from a fake e' eriment. !obody had rolled such a ball, or they would never have gotten those results. - have discovered something else,% he continued. #y fli ing the ages at random, and utting my finger in and reading the sentences on that age, - can show you what+s the matter,,,how it+s not science, but memorizing, in every circumstance.% another e'am lehe stuck his finger in and began to read. Triboluminescence. Triboluminescence is the light emitted when crystals are crushed% %and there, have you got science? !"$ /ou have only told what a word means in terms of other words. /ou haven+t told anything about nature,,,what crystals roduce light when you crush them, why they roduce light. 0id you see any student go home and try it? &e can+t.

#ut if, instead, you were to write, *When you take a lum of sugar and crush it with a air of liers in the dark, you can see a bluish flash. )ome other crystals do that too. !obody knows why. The henomenon is called triboluminescence.% Then someone will go home and try it. Then there+s an e' erience of nature.% +eading this explanation "y such an honored and respected physicist was heartwarming. He also had a chapter on his experience with the -tate Board of 8ducation in 6alifornia, who re!uested that he serve on the -tate 6urriculum 6ommission, which had the tas# of choosing new text"oo#s for the entire state. To ma#e a long story short, he ended up with a seventeen foot "oo#shelf full of new math text"oo#s, which he agreed to review for the state. &t was a pretty "ig o", "ut he read every one of them, exploding li#e a volcano every so often as the "oo#s were so lousy. .s he stated, *They were false, they were done hurriedly, and he felt everything was a little "it am"iguous999they weren2t smart enough to understand what was meant "y :rigor2., The "oo#s were so "ad that the commission ended up recommending supplementary "oo#s as a pac#age to help the teachers. &n the end the whole pro ect was scrapped as the Board of 8ducation did not have enough money passed "y the -enate to purchase the recommended "oo#s. The following year they were going to review science text"oo#s and 3r. Feynman did loo# at a few of them, "ut they all turned out to "e e!ually horrifying, which cinched his decision to resign from the 6ommission. The saddest part of this story is the fact that these events too# place in the decade of the ;<2s and nothing has really changed. The text"oo#s are still lousy, and the structure of the original /epartment of 8ducation system, which this country has totally outgrown, is still in place. 3andatory =ational testing is the la7y man2s way of chec#ing education accounta"ility and the consistent low scores reflect our failure as a nation to correct the flaws. The :Holy >rail2 of the departments in control of developing new instructional materials seem to "e the =ational -tandards. $hen & !uestioned the experts as to whether the flaws that have "een discovered in the structure of the curriculum were corrected yet, & was told that we still do not #now *how children learn., 3ore research is necessary. &n the meantime another decade is slipping away. & thin# if 3r. Feynman were alive, he would as# 5 $H1 they still have not addressed the pro"lems he pointed out in the ;<2s and $H1 do they need =ational -tandards and =ational 3andated Testing, when they are not permitted to develop excellent =ational 6urriculum so that all children really have the same opportunities for excellence in education. How can you develop a national test when everyone is using different text"oo#s% The answer is5 you can2t4 The ultimate proof is in the low test scores and proficiency rates for the entire country in math and science, along with the high drop out rates in (th and '<th grade across the nation. June is the month that the =68- http0??nces.ed.gov?programs?coe pu"lishes the 6ondition of 8ducation +eport in the @nited -tates as mandated "y 6ongress. 1ou can download it online or order a copy sent to you at no charge. &n closing & would li#e to state that it would have "een most interesting to have 3r. Feynman on "oard to help change the system. He would have made a great ally. The last chapter of the "oo# is adapted from the '(AB 6altech 6ommencement .ddress in which 3r. Feynman addressed *integrity in science

and in ta#ing our place in the world., The closing remar#s tell us so much a"out the $orld Ciew of +ichard P. Feynman5the man who en oyed the simple pleasure of finding things out. =o ordinary genius, "ut an exemplary role model in these trou"led times as we struggle with the lac# of good education and the loss of integrity to ma#e the changes, due to the many sta#eholders invested in our old outdated failing structure4 So I have just one wish for you--- the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. ay you have that freedom.! "ichard #. $eynman %&'( Post Office Honors Richard P. Feynman with a Commemorative Stamp Four .merican scientists9geneticist Bar"ara 3c6lintoc#, mathematician John von =eumann, physicist +ichard Feynman and thermodynamicist Josiah $illard >i""s9also ma#e the .pril stamp lineup, as does poet, novelist, educator and three9time Pulit7er Pri7e winner +o"ert Penn $arren. +ichard P. Feynman D'(')9'())E developed a new formulation of !uantum theory "ased, in part, on diagrams he invented to help him visuali7e the dynamics of atomic particles. &n '(;F, this noted theoretical physicist, enthusiastic educator and amateur artist was awarded the =o"el Pri7e in Physics. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Sure!y "ou#re $o%in&, 'r. Feynman! ( )dventures of a Curious Character "y +ichard P. Feynman, +alph Leighton, 8dward Hutchings D8ditorE H$H8= & $.- a"out eleven or twelve & set up a la" in my house...H Buy at www..ma7on.com

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*hat +o "ou Care *hat Other Peop!e ,hin%-( Further )dventures of a Curious Character "y +ichard P. Feynman, +alph Leighton D6ontri"utorE H& H.C8 a friend whoMs an artist, and he sometimes ta#es a view which & donMt agree with...H Buy this "oo# at www.ama7on.com

http0??www.ama7on.com?exec?o"idos?tg?detail?9?<I(IIK<(K)?refJpdG"xgyGtextG'?'<K9'))')A;9'AIFI ;I%vJglanceLsJ"oo#sLstJN GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG ,he Feynman ,apes( .o!ume /. 0as recorded 1y Ra!ph 2ei&hton3 H6hief +esearch 6hemistH and other stories. +ichard Feynman tells some of his legendary stories to +alph Leighton. 1ouMve read edited versions of these stories in his "oo#s -urely 1ouMre Jo#ing 3r. Feynman and $hat /o 1ou 6are what Other People Thin#, now hear them as HThe 6hiefH told them4 FA0K( running time. http0??www.scs9intl.com?trader? GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG ,he P!easure of Findin& ,hin&s Out is fifty minutes of pure Feynman, filmed in '()' and at last availa"le on home video to delight and inspire anyone who would li#e to share something of the oys of scientific discovery. Feynman is a master storyteller, and his tales 99 a"out childhood, Los .lamos, and the Bom", or how he won a =o"el Pri7e 99 are a vivid and entertaining insight into the mind of a great scientist at wor# and play. F< minutes, produced "y 6hristopher -y#es. The transcript for the video is also availa"le. This KK page "oo#let contains a complete and accurate transcription of the documentary done "y 3ichael O#uda. Cideo includes transcript http0??www.scs9intl.com?trader? GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 'ore Feynman 4oo%s 56ercises 7 So!utions for the Feynman 2ectures on Physics 1y Ro1ert 2ei&hton. Three volumes D"ound as oneE designed to accompany the seminal series of lectures given "y Feynman at 6altech in the early ;<Ms. These volumes are very hard to find and no set of the lectures is complete without it4 D=ot all solutions are given.E =ote0 &tem ships directly from distri"utor on the west coast. http0??www.scs9intl.com?trader?

No Ordinary Genius 1y Christopher Sy%es. -y#es is a documentary filmma#er for BB6 TC who grew to #now the great physicist while ma#ing two films a"out his life. He has compiled selections from FeynmanMs writings and other sources and arranged them in topical chapters, supplemented with photos. This photo9al"um tri"ute presents a series of !uic#9 "ut9intimate portraits through photographs of Feynman and friends and a selection of entertaining and revealing excerpts from interviews and conversations. The supporting cast includes physicists +ichard /avies, Freeman /yson, /avid >oodstein, and John .rchi"ald $heeler as well as a couple of computer scientists, artists, musicians, and FeynmanMs children. The main events of FeynmanMs life99winning the =o"el Pri7eP wor#ing at Los .lamosP discoveries in superfluidity, diffusion, and radioactive decayP and investigation into the H6hallengerH tragedy 99 are all discussed, as is FeynmanMs gift for having fun. .lso now in Paper"ac# http0??www.scs9intl.com?trader GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 85+( ) p!ay 9:.;< 1y Peter Parne!!, Richard Phi!!ips Feynman, Ra!ph ,uva or 4ust 2ei&hton HQ8/ is a seductive mix of science, human affections, moral courage and comic eccentricity... not to "e missed.H 9 John -imon, =8$ 1O+R 3.>.S&=8 H...The play itself is a #ind of proof, dramatically illustrating how a man who happens to "e a genius elegantly and movingly wor#s through the human pro"lem of how to face the end of his life.H 9 =ancy Fran#lin, TH8 =8$ 1O+R8+ $ith a moving and powerful introduction from .lan .lda. $ho #new that !uantum electrodynamics could ma#e for a dramatic read% &n the hands of the late, great physicist +ichard Feynman, it does. FeynmanMs theory of Q8/ is ust one of the many topics the playwright Peter Parnell explores in this nearly9one9man show, a recent Broadway triumph for star .lan .lda as Feynman. -et in FeynmanMs office on the wee#end of his reali7ation that he has terminal cancer, this play is an intellectual tour9de9force that captures the uni!ue, hilarious, and puc#ish genius that Feynman was. From his wor# on the 3anhattan Pro e ct to the death of his "eloved first wife, from his mission to reconstruct the 6hallenger space shuttle tragedy to his =o"el9pri7e winning physics ideas, the mere resume of FeynmanMs life is fascinating. But Parnell give us more, letting Feynman fill in the details of his life. $hen he reads a letter he wrote to his wife after her death, or flirts with a student, or chillingly recalls wal#ing around 3anhattan calculating how much damage an atomic "om" could do, we grow to love the man "ehind the scientist. .nd we read in fascinatin as he pu77les out the pro"lem of his own death. 6om"ining the current interest in science and math in the entertainment world with one of the most entertaining scientists in @.-. history, Q8/ is a tour9de9force. Lin#ed at0 http0??www.scs9intl.com?trader? .vaila"le at www..ma7on.com GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG and the !atest 4oo%... 2etters of Richard P. Feynman 4rendan 4oy!e nonfiction

Perfect Reasona1!e +eviations from the 4eaten ,rac%( ,he 2etters of Richard P. Feynman edited 1y 'iche!!e Feynman 8n route to a conference on li!uefied helium and high9energy physics, +ichard Feynman wrote to his young niece descri"ing the wor# that scientists do. H.toms are complicated,H he explained in a letter datelined Hflying over 8ngland.H H3ay"e li#e watches are 99 "ut atoms are so small that all we can do is smash them together and see all the funny pieces Dgears, wheels, and springsE which fly out. Then we have to guess how the watch is put together5 =ow it loo#s li#e we #now most of the parts that go in 99 "ut no"ody #nows how they fit together.H Feynman won the =o"el Pri7e in Physics in part for figuring out how all those parts that go in fit together. Technically, in the words of the -wedish +oyal .cademy, he won it for Hfundamental wor# in !uantum electrodynamics with deep9ploughing conse!uences for the physics of elementary particles.H Feynman was already on his way to minor cele"rity "efore the pri7e. His Lectures on Physics had "rought him great acclaim "ut television made him famous. H/ear +ichard,H wrote one swooning fan, H&2ve fallen in love with you from seeing you on =OC..H Only 6aptain Rir# could ma#e time travel sound sexier. But Rir# could only say, HBeam me up.H Feynman could actually explain it. Perfectly +easona"le /eviations From The Beaten Trac#0 The Letters of +ichard P. Feynman "rings together previously unpu"lished letters, organi7ed more or less chronologically. The early letters, mostly sent to Feynman2s convalescent wife .rline, carry an .l"u!uer!ue postmar#. &t was there that the twenty9four9year9old Feynman, fresh out of graduate school, was wor#ing on the atomic "om". The "ul# of the material comes from Feynman2s days at 6al Tech. The recipients are a motley gang 99 professional colleagues, old girlfriends, depressed former students whose experiments were going nowhere, crac#pot amateur physicists, and >weneth, Feynman2s third wife. The letters are "ris#, unpretentious, and, a"ove all else, ama7ingly clear. 8ven the rarefied stuff of !uar#s and mesons seem a short step away from the levers and pulleys of high school physics la". 3a#ing straightforward sense of the natural world was Feynman2s goal. He wrote this short note to a colleague2s son who had as#ed why the sun loo#ed red at sunset. H.ir molecules scatter "lue light more than red5 The light that is not scattered 99 that passes from the sun to the eye directly 99 has less "lue in it 99 and even less "lue the more air it goes through. Thus as it sets, and we loo# at it through a very long column of air, Tthe sunU loo#s very red indeed.H This explanation is classic Feynman0 short, clear, and utterly free of condescension. .nd Feynman wasn2t ust "eing nice. He2s almost always gracious, even when it pro"a"ly wasn2t warranted. -ome of the most en oya"le letters are to the various day9 dreamers who claimed to have stum"led upon a fundamental theory of physics from the comfort of the living room. &t2s a wonder that Feynman even wrote "ac# to these mopes. That he did so with great patience, #indly pointing out where each wild theory goes wrong, ma#es him very attractive. The letters are full of homely advice. H&f you have any talent, or any occupation that delights you, do it, and do it to the hilt. /on2t as# why, or what difficulties you may get into,H he tells teenager after teenager. The sentiment is nothing special, "ut & suspect that it was ust what the little "rainiacs who wrote to him needed to hear. The same for the former student upset that he isn2t talented enough to wor#, li#e Feynman, on Hpro"lems close to the gods.H H=o pro"lem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something a"out it.H

Only with his first wife .rline does Feynman sound aw#ward and uncertain. Three months "efore her death he writes, H-o long sweetheart. 8verything will pro"a"ly come out OR.H That Hpro"a"lyH is, of course, correct. 8verything wasn2t going to come out OR. But it sounds horri"ly wrong and needlessly scientific. &t stands out as a rare moment when Fenyman2s !uantum9mechanical "rain got the "etter of him. But perhaps this "rain got the "etter of him for more than a moment. His second marriage lasted less than a year. Because this collection includes no letters from that time, we2re left wondering whether science sun# this relationship too. By the time he married his third wife in '(;< the Hpro"a"ly,H at least in matters of love, had changed to Ha"solutely.H The marriage lasted until Feynman2s death in '()). Feynman could "e testy, particularly when someone wrote to him with a !uestion without thin#ing hard a"out it first. But he was also short with anyone who !uestioned the value of scientific in!uiry. .fter Feynman had disparaged modern poets for a lac# of curiosity, an admirer sent him a copy of .uden2s H.fter +eading a 6hild2s >uide to 3odern PhysicsH and invited him to recant. H3r. .uden2s poem,H Feynman wrote in response, Honly confirms his lac# of response to =ature2s wonders for he himself says that he would li#e to #now more clearly what we :want the #nowledge for.2 $e want it so we can love =ature more. $ould you not turn a "eautiful flower around in your hand to see it from other directions as well%H By putting science in the service of "eauty and awe, the ever9romantic Feynman "eats the poets at their own game. $onder and imagination were his main tools. Particle9accelerators and electron9microscopes ust made the o" easier. Perfect!y Reasona1!e +eviations from the 4eaten ,rac%( ,he 2etters of Richard P. Feynman edited 1y 'iche!!e Feynman #asic #ooks -)#!. 1234516367 348 9ages http0??www.ama7on.com?exec?o"idos?.-&=?<AI)K<;I;(?artandlies9K<?<<K9;)K(F(F9I;';<; GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG :eatured 9rofile of ;ichard 9. :eynman was written as a Teacher<)tudent resource to encourage young students to e' lore science for a greater understanding of !ature and &ow the World Works. A wonderful role model for challenging young minds... as 9rofessor :eynman was no "rdinary =enius$