Richard P. Feynman: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" (1989, Bantam Books)
Paperback, 322 pages
English language
Published April 8, 1989 by Bantam Books.
The biography of the physicist and Nobel prize winner Richard P. Feynman - a collection of short stories, chapters told to and written down by Ralph Leighton. Feynman tells of his childhood and youth and goes into his adult life, both personally and professionally.
I was expecting a lot of science, what I got was a lot of pickup stories.
Surely You're a Pickup Artist, Mr Feynman
“I learned from her that every woman is worried
about her looks, no matter how beautiful she is.”
I feel rather conflicted about this book. Listening to Feynman explaining things is fascinating and his enthusiasm really comes across, but whilst that remains in many of these anecdotes they're surrounded by misogynic behaviour and arrogance. He was obviously extremely passionate and put a huge amount of effort into things, but his constant downplaying of his skills early in an anecdote followed by people heaping praise on him was irritating, especially as it happened chapter after chapter after chapter. I think the book could've done with some more rigorous editing: fixing the anecdotes jumping around time, removing some of the more misogynistic sections and maybe replacing a few of the less interesting anecdotes with some of his wonderful explanations about physics.
The book is awesome. It deals with personal adventures of Dr. Richard Feynman, a Nobel Laureate and lot more. The adventure goes on in different fields- learning, teaching, the Manhattan Project, playing drums, drawing nudes, Quantum Electrodynamics, topless bars, Nobel Prize and more!
This book is a must read for passionate science students, scientists and anyone who is interested in 'living' life differently. It will definitely teach how to perceive life from a complete different perspective.
I am so much interested in this man now, I am currently reading "What Do You Care What Other People Think: Further Adventures of A Curious Character."
A collection of well-written and interesting anecdotes out of the life of the guy who must have (at least co-)invented the concept of the not-so-humble brag.
Pretty amazing man, if simply for his ability to recall all these little stories. I love that he is in love with science. His rants on "knowing" vs "understanding" really hit home.
