Product Description

This text is a portrayal of one of the greatest scientists of the late 20th-century, which also provides a picture of the significant physics of the period. It combines personal anecdotes, writings and recollections with narrative. Richard Feynman's career included: war-time work on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos; a theory of quantum mechanics for which he won the Nobel prize; and major contributions to the sciences of gravity, nuclear physics and particle theory. In 1986, he was able to show that the Challenger disaster was due to the effect of cold on the booster rocket rubber sealings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #948813 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Customer Reviews

A Life in Science
This book covers Feynman's life, as well as his many achievements in physics, in a readable manner. What really comes over is Feynman's love of science, his deep understanding of the underlying concepts, and his desire to communicate that knowledge to others - without any personal gain in terms of fame or material goods.

This book also goes some way to exploring the subject of Feynman the man, as well as the scientist, covering areas like the death of his first wife, his many relationships, his childhood and his family.

One of the world's greatest communicators, a scientist
Richard Feynman is one of my heroes, and the Gribbins have produced an excellent biography detailing his life and work.

A Nobel Prize winning physicist, he was renowned for his exceptionally deep understanding of science and the ability to cut through to the essential core of any problem, and then explain it so the dimmest of people could comprehend. For example it was he who deduced why the Challenger shuttle disaster happened, and then was able to give a simple and totally convincing demonstration at the meeting.

But more than this, he was a popular, humorous and warm-hearted family man, and a long serving academic who set the benchmark on the best methods for teaching his students. Long after his untimely death from cancer, books about his popular lectures and tapes of them are still used as examples of good technique, and students still gain inspiration from them. His published work was always a model of clarity, and always aimed correctly at his intended audience. I only wish he had taught me my Physics.

This book serves far better than I can to show what a brilliant man he was, and the Gribbins research seems exhaustive. I have read a couple of others, but this one seems to be the most comprehensive, and has excellent references and index.

Some other books by or about Feynman worth reading are
Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character
'Most of the Good Stuff': Memories of Richard Feynman