Wednesday, December 30, 2009

No Ordinary Genius: The Illustrated Richard Feynman by Richard P. Feynman

★★★★

Imagine watching a documentary about Richard Feynman, with photos and interviews with Feynman's friends, family, and colleagues, as well as Feynman himself. This book was based on a series of Feynman documentaries, so it's basically like reading a documentary.

It's very similar, in style and content, to the Feynman autobiographies (Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?). You get to know Feynman as having the curiosity and honesty of a child, but the intellect - and associated quirks - of a genius. One difference between this book and the others is that Feynman actually comes across as less arrogant in this book because Feynman's own words are interspersed with others' (favorable) opinions of him as well. You get to see that Feynman was really a remarkable person who touched a lot of people's lives in many ways well beyond physics. He was incredibly multifaceted, with interests ranging from bongo drums to Tuva (an erstwhile country at the center of Asia).

This book also includes excerpts of Feynman talking physics, which the other books don't have. Feynman really had a gift for analogies, and he's able to explain even complex concepts in simple, every day terms.

No comments:

Post a Comment