Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman

by Richard P. Feynman

Hardcover, 2005

Status

Available

Collection

Science

Genres

Publication

Basic Books (2005), 486 pages

Description

One of the towering figures of twentieth-century science, Richard Feynman possessed a curiosity that was the stuff of legend. Even before he won the Nobel Prize in 1965, his unorthodox and spellbinding lectures on physics secured his reputation amongst students and seekers around the world. It was his outsized love for life, however, that earned him the status of an American cultural icon--here was an extraordinary intellect devoted to the proposition that the thrill of discovery was matched only by the joy of communicating it to others. In this career-spanning collection of letters, many published here for the first time, we are able to see this side of Feynman like never before. As edited and annotated by his daughter, Michelle, these letters not only allow us to better grasp the how and why of Feynman's enduring appeal, but also to see the virtues of an inquiring eye in spectacular fashion. The result is a wonderful de facto guide to life, an eloquent testimony to the human quest for knowledge at all levels.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member bragan

By all accounts, physicist Richard Feynman was a remarkable guy: thoroughly likable, utterly brilliant, modestly plain-spoken, and gifted with a rare ability to explain complicated things clearly. His exploits included winning a Nobel Prize; playing the bongo drums in a ballet; working on the

Manhattan Project, where he used to break into his colleagues' safes to highlight problems with security; and serving on the committee investigating the Challenger accident, where he famously dunked one of the shuttle's O-rings into his glass of ice water to prove that it turned brittle in the cold.

I adored Feynman's books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, which were collections of anecdotes from his life, as told to and transcribed by a friend of his. So I was interested to read this collection of his letters, compiled by his daughter many years after his death, but I did expect that it might be a bit dry, and likely more of historical interest than human interest. Well, I am delighted to report that I was completely wrong about that. These letters are warm and charming and often laugh-out-loud funny. They're also full of joy -- in physics, in teaching, in learning, and in family -- and contain some beautiful insights into the nature of what it's like to do science, particularly the way in which all scientific knowledge is grounded in doubt. A few of them are also very moving, especially his correspondence with his first wife, who was ill when they married and who died tragically young.

If I am absolutely honest, I have to confess that I am a little bit in love with Richard Feynman. Possibly I have been since I first read Surely You're Joking back in my late teens, but this collection has quite cemented it. Which is perhaps a little embarrassing, but I can at least take consolation in the fact that, based on his affable reply to a woman who wrote to say she'd fallen in love with him after seeing him on Nova, he would have responded with good grace.

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LibraryThing member frailgesture

I only recently bought this, but I can already tell that it'll be something I'll reread from time to time. I'm a minor fan of epistolary books (things like Letters to a Young Poet, or Chekhov's Life in Letters), and this is one of the better ones that I've come across. Feynman wasn't a prose

stylist, but his writing is perfectly readable and enjoyable for what it is, and occasionally very moving, especially the early letters between him and his first wife. Writing was apparently their primary form of communication, since Feynman was holed up in Los Alamos working on the nuke while his wife was in a sanitarium or hospital dealing with her tuberculosis.

But even the more standard letters are amusing. Anyway, I really enjoy this book.

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LibraryThing member Meggo

This book presents some new material, and the insights and descriptions by Feynman's daughter add depth and richness to the material. Much of the material was familiar from other sources, although the insights and family correspondence alone make this book worth reading.

LibraryThing member fpagan

Big compendium of the correspondence of the extraordinary physicist (1918-1988), mostly nontechnical.

LibraryThing member dotarvi

This collection of personal letters written over the lifetime of Richard Feynman was moving and inspiring. From his early letters to his first wife, dying in a hospital near Los Alamos where he was working during WWII, to the final letter in the book, written to a parent concerned over his bright

child, Feynman's kindness and humor were touching and apparent. The letters were collected by his daughter, Michelle, and therefore are shown through a veil of love, but I feel this adds, not detracts.

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LibraryThing member mhaley

Mildy entertaining. The first portion of the letters chosen by his son and daughter describing the coorespondence with his dying wife were a bit tedious, but they did reflect his unconditional love for his wife. The last two thirds of the letters showed the wonderful personality of RPF, and his

ability to be a sensitive, caring man who took time to encourage young scientists. The letters reflect a humble man. A polar opposite of Albert Einstein, who was a complete self-centered, non-caring, loveless man.

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LibraryThing member MeganAndJustin

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LibraryThing member psiloiordinary

A selection of letters chosen by his close family. An insight into his private personality and key events in his life.

Ranging from a correspondence with a young and dying wife, being torn between doing what she is asking and doing what is best for her, to light hearted asides and truly

inspirational responses to members of the public after he achieved his celebrated status as Nobel prize winner.

Inspirational, heart warming, full of humour.

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LibraryThing member seabear

The early letters between him and his first wife are as heartbreaking as the later ones are wry, amusing, and wise. What a man!

LibraryThing member jabberwockiness

This is raw Feynman - Feynman as a rational, brilliant, amusing, and genial man, revealed through letters to his family, to supporting fans, and to other physicists. In all his facets, Richard Feynman was a great person. The introductions and occasional notes by his daughter are immensely helpful

too.

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LibraryThing member nocto

Collection of letters to/from Feynman, edited by his daughter. Some bits interesting, other bits pretty tedious; expect every reader will find different bits interesting though.

LibraryThing member nocto

Collection of letters to/from Feynman, edited by his daughter. Some bits interesting, other bits pretty tedious; expect every reader will find different bits interesting though.

LibraryThing member mmtz

If you’ve read any books by or about Richard Feynman, then you have to read this collection of his letters, edited by his daughter, Michelle Feynman. The letters, written over most of his lifetime to family, friends, and complete strangers, tell you nearly everything you might want to know about

the man.

Published in hardcover by Basic Books.

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LibraryThing member nmele

This collection of letters showed me another side of Richard Feynman--the teacher and the man, someone who replied to letters from perfect strangers posing questions about the physical world, criticizing his language, asking favors from him. Feynman's letters are gracefully written, polite, yet

clearly the writing of the same man famous for his safe-cracking, bongo-playing and quick mind. Feynman also comes across as a passionate, dedicated teacher and as a loving father and husband. Pretty good reading.

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