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: Genius!
Review: What is better than learning physics from the giant in physics himself? The ideas in his lectures are so enlightening and well explained that it is a MUST read for anyone interested in physics, in despite of his or her technical background. Being a high school student, I have, nontheless, grasped most of his clear presentation. His explanation on quantum theory and the analogies he makes are just the best I've ever read. His lectures are, by no means, straightforward or ordinary. I have to read some parts twice or three time to fully understand what he is trying to convey. Keep in mind when reading it: This is a true genius talking.
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