The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman (Helix Books)

The must-read for every starting researcher, from the multi-faceted winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman, foreword by Freeman Dyson, edited by Jeffrey Robbins. Helix Books, Perseus Books, Cambridge, Mass. 1999. This is a very interesting collection where Feynman, one of the brain trust that gave us the Atom Bomb and a Nobel Prize winner, describes what he believes and how he believes it. Considered one of the most...more

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman, foreword by Freeman Dyson, edited by Jeffrey Robbins. Helix Books, Perseus Books, Cambridge, Mass. 1999. This is a very interesting collection where Feynman, one of the brain trust that gave us the Atom Bomb and a Nobel Prize winner, describes what he believes and how he believes it. Considered one of the most brilliant minds in our nation's history and certainly a beloved teacher, he explains himself easily to the unlearned like myself. His inconsistencies philosophically are troubling but are a great help in helping me to understand the modern scientist who is vastly different from the great scientists like Newton and Kepler, Faraday and Lavoisier or Von Leewenoek (sp?) of the past. This is a very interesting book and I recommend it to anyone interested in science. His arguments regarding science versus religion are very enlightening. Recently, a poll was reported that showed that a full 50% of people questioned in the UK and America did not believe in Evolution. I think, in Feynman's book you can understand why modern science has failed to convert that 50% to accept its anti-God theories and beliefs. This book is certainly worth taking the time to read. I imagine he was a fascinating man to know and a terrific teacher, just based on his enthusiasm alone.   hide

Feynman is one of those inspirational scientists - so in love with the process of learning that it captures everything about his worldview. This collection of writings was really neat to read, I think there are few opportunities I've really been able to be inspired by a scientist for the kind of level-headed purity that Feynman had lived by (a lot of world-changing scientists...more

Feynman is one of those inspirational scientists - so in love with the process of learning that it captures everything about his worldview. This collection of writings was really neat to read, I think there are few opportunities I've really been able to be inspired by a scientist for the kind of level-headed purity that Feynman had lived by (a lot of world-changing scientists were real kooks).   hide

I read "Surely you are joking Mr Feynman" many many years ago. It was one of the most influential books of my life. For a period of time, all I wanted out of life was to become a physicist. I never got around to becoming one, but he taught me a lot of what science is all about. Reading this book, I am in awe all over again. Maybe I can still take a course in physics in my advanced...more

I read "Surely you are joking Mr Feynman" many many years ago. It was one of the most influential books of my life. For a period of time, all I wanted out of life was to become a physicist. I never got around to becoming one, but he taught me a lot of what science is all about. Reading this book, I am in awe all over again. Maybe I can still take a course in physics in my advanced age...   hide