Richard Feynman

For a long time, Richard Feynman has been one of my heroes.

I probably first learned about Richard Feynman when I read a couple of his wonderful books.

• Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!
• What Do You Care What Other People Think

What I love about these books is that you get to know the man. He shares wonderful stories, not just about physics, but also about his life. He talks about what amuses him and what fascinates him. He talks about the games he would play through the years.

His love of physics shines through, as does his playfulness.

He is known for The Feynman Lectures on Physics, which he gave to many students at Caltech in the early 1960s. They have been made available for free here.

• Volume 1
• Volume 2
• Volume 3

These lectures are required reading for anyone even slightly interested in understanding physics!

Of course, he’s also known for doing great work as a physicist. He developed a path integral formulation of quantum mechanics and a visual scheme for mathematical expressions of particle interactions known as Feynman Diagrams. He won the Nobel Prize in physics for his work in quantum electrodynamics (QED).

Here’s a short video where Feynman introduces us to a Way of Thinking.