Rating: 
Summary: The greatest physicist.
Review: Once every 2,500 years someone is born who transcends human knowledge and takes us to a higher place. Richard P. Feymann is such a person. Let us thank his father who told him that you can know the "name of the bird in all the languages of the world, but you'll know absolutely nothing about the bird. You'll only know about humans in different place and what they call the bird. So let's look at the bird and see what it's *doing* -- that is what counts."
Rating: 
Summary: The beauty of physical laws
Review: One the greatest theoretical physicists and popular lecturer, Feynman expresses his view on the puzzles, controversies, and problems at the core of physical theory. He uses as an example the law of gravitation to show that despite the simplicity of physical laws, they are not exact, there is always a mystery, always a place where there is further work to be done, so "scientists must stick their heads out." And what is most remarkable is not what scientists have been able to discover, but what nature has taught us. Feynman stresses the importance of mathematics as the key to any system of scientific laws (mathematics is more than just a language, it is language plus logic). This is a series of lecturers to be read preferably by those individuals who have a solid background in physics, otherwise you may find your neurons will not know in which direction they should fire! As Paul Davis rightly says: "theoretical physics is one the hardest of human endeavors, combining as it does subtle and abstract concepts that normally defy visualizations with a technical complexity that is impossible to master in its entirety." Feynman did have the genius to deal with it!
Rating:
Summary: The beauty of physical laws
Review: One the greatest theoretical physicists and popular lecturer, Feynman expresses his view on the puzzles, controversies, and problems at the core of physical theory. He uses as an example the law of gravitation to show that despite the simplicity of physical laws, they are not exact, there is always a mystery, always a place where there is further work to be done, so "scientists must stick their heads out." And what is most remarkable is not what scientists have been able to discover, but what nature has taught us. Feynman stresses the importance of mathematics as the key to any system of scientific laws (mathematics is more than just a language, it is language plus logic). This is a series of lecturers to be read preferably by those individuals who have a solid background in physics, otherwise you may find your neurons will not know in which direction they should fire! As Paul Davis rightly says: "theoretical physics is one the hardest of human endeavors, combining as it does subtle and abstract concepts that normally defy visualizations with a technical complexity that is impossible to master in its entirety." Feynman did have the genius to deal with it!
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful book for the interested non-physicist
Review: The book is a really good non-specialist's introduction to some of the basic ideas and attitudes of modern physics. It won't teach you physics, but it will teach you some important things about physics. This is an ideal book for a bright kid. It's accessible, and they have the thrill of being able to connect with the "real stuff". Smart high school kids know at some level that out of ignorance their teachers aren't really telling them the truth in math and science classes, and it's a thrill for them to hear things from someone who really does understand what they are talking about.Anyway, this book is great, and you should get it for your smart kid who is interested in science. You should also demand that they put the lectures on DVD, because watching Feynman talk is even better than reading the books. He was a god in the classroom, and it's easy when you see the lectures to understand why he was worshipped by a generation of CalTech undergraduates.
Rating:
Summary: A must for any scientist
Review: The character of physical law is the character of any law. This lecture is a must for any scientist and anyone who wishes to become one. Professor Feynman tells you exactly how the process of developing and testing theories works. As he pointed out ' you can never be sure to be right, you can only be sure to be wrong', I'd say you cannot be wrong by listening to this tape. The book is superbly read by Jeff Riggenbach.
Rating:
Summary: Fun read for Feynman enthusiasts
Review: This book is apparently a nearly verbatim account of 7 Feynman lectures given at Cornell in the early 60s and is a short (but good) book. The level of these lectures was not highly technical so consequently a wide audience should find the book very readable. Of particular interest is the discussion of the way new physical laws are arrived at by scientists. Just be aware that as with other Feynman books every sentence packs non-trivial meaning so this is not a light read. It is a fun read especially for Feynman enthusiasts.
Rating:
Summary: Fun read for Feynman enthusiasts
Review: This book is apparently a nearly verbatim account of 7 Feynman lectures given at Cornell in the early 60s and is a short (but good) book. The level of these lectures was not highly technical so consequently a wide audience should find the book very readable. Of particular interest is the discussion of the way new physical laws are arrived at by scientists. Just be aware that as with other Feynman books every sentence packs non-trivial meaning so this is not a light read. It is a fun read especially for Feynman enthusiasts.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This is the best science book I've read since Carl Sagan's THE DRAGONS OF EDEN. Its prose style is disarmingly simple and conversational, yets it cuts quickly and directly to the heart of the various matters it addresses. Moving, profound, and just amazing. You HAVE to read this.
Rating:
Summary: Feynman Delivers
Review: This is yet another book that attempts to convey the essence of physics to common people. After explaining exactly why it can't be done, arguing that you'll never get it, Feynman goes right ahead and does it anyway. For each topic, you get a feel for his goal in covering a topic. He explains gravity, yes, to explain gravity, but also because by explaining it he can also convey what essential properties gravity has that other laws have. He also explains the difference between fundamental laws and the consequences of those laws. That the individual laws are reversible, but that probability is responsible for the arrow of time. He spends a lot of time showing the difficult relationship between the basic laws (which are reversible) and the irreversibility of events. Both are characteristics of the physical universe but the latter is not a fundamental law. The latter is a logical outcome of them. So there's a hierarchy, which goes; fundamental laws like gravity at the ground level, consequences of them like irreversibility and surface tension at one level up, organic chemistry further up, then eventually concepts like tree, frog, man, pain, beauty, good and evil - each at a higher level, but based upon the levels below them, and difficult to fully predict using only the laws of the lower levels. The levels can be extended up and down. Below gravity is the unification theory of everything. Above good and evil are love, politics, etc. And then he asks, of the extremes on this hierarchy, the fundamental laws and the most abstract concepts, which is closest to God? After asking for patience with his religious reference, he spends little time before revealing his belief that the question is flawed. To understand God is to understand how the levels interrelate; how the fundamental laws were "chosen" so that they would lead to the unfolding of all the beautiful complexity that we see around us. Is this what you want to learn? Why else do we read these books than to attempt to gain a bit more insight into the eternal questions. Most authors that tackle the nature of the universe have a theological axe to grind (the need for God or not) and can't hide it. This book did more on this topic, with fewer pages, while offending me the least because of any theological bias (either way), than anything I've read before.
Rating:
Summary: Feynman Delivers
Review: This is yet another book that attempts to convey the essence of physics to common people. After explaining exactly why it can't be done, arguing that you'll never get it, Feynman goes right ahead and does it anyway. For each topic, you get a feel for his goal in covering a topic. He explains gravity, yes, to explain gravity, but also because by explaining it he can also convey what essential properties gravity has that other laws have. He also explains the difference between fundamental laws and the consequences of those laws. That the individual laws are reversible, but that probability is responsible for the arrow of time. He spends a lot of time showing the difficult relationship between the basic laws (which are reversible) and the irreversibility of events. Both are characteristics of the physical universe but the latter is not a fundamental law. The latter is a logical outcome of them. So there's a hierarchy, which goes; fundamental laws like gravity at the ground level, consequences of them like irreversibility and surface tension at one level up, organic chemistry further up, then eventually concepts like tree, frog, man, pain, beauty, good and evil - each at a higher level, but based upon the levels below them, and difficult to fully predict using only the laws of the lower levels. The levels can be extended up and down. Below gravity is the unification theory of everything. Above good and evil are love, politics, etc. And then he asks, of the extremes on this hierarchy, the fundamental laws and the most abstract concepts, which is closest to God? After asking for patience with his religious reference, he spends little time before revealing his belief that the question is flawed. To understand God is to understand how the levels interrelate; how the fundamental laws were "chosen" so that they would lead to the unfolding of all the beautiful complexity that we see around us. Is this what you want to learn? Why else do we read these books than to attempt to gain a bit more insight into the eternal questions. Most authors that tackle the nature of the universe have a theological axe to grind (the need for God or not) and can't hide it. This book did more on this topic, with fewer pages, while offending me the least because of any theological bias (either way), than anything I've read before.
|
