Product Description

For nearly 50 years, until his death in 1988, Richard Feynman's work lay at the heart of the development of modern physics. Always controversial, Feynman was the key physicist from his days as part of the A-bomb-making team at Los Alamos in the early 1940s, until his discovery of the reason for the Challenger space shuttle disaster 40 years later. The book combines biography with an accessible account of his thought and its context.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94117 in Books
• Published on: 1994-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review
'Excellent ... Gleck's account fully deserves its title' GUARDIAN 'A rich narrative that mixes science with fly-on-the-wall detail' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

About the Author
James Gleick was an editor and reporter at the New York Times for ten years. He is the author of GENIUS and also CHAOS, which was nominated for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Genius: really an appropriate title
This is the first scientific biography that I read, and slowly I got hooked onto Feyn-mania. I went on to read all books on or by Feynman.
Gleick gives a beautiful picture of Feynman the genius, Feynman the human being, Feynman the physicist, Feynman the naughty mischevious guy, Feynman the teacher and Feynman the showman and raconteur: all in one! All the scientific jargon about quantum mechanics is explained in a beautiful and lucid manner that even non-physicists can understand.
All in all, it's a must read for everyone!

Wow- an excellent read
Go on folks- read this book. Even if its the only "physiscsy" book you ever read.
A brilliant insight into the mind of a genius (as the name might suggest); truly awe inspiring in places, it makes you realise what an amazing life this gent had.
Definately the best book about Richard Feynman that there is, you'll want to read it again and again.

A good read
I began the book with Feynman as a god-like figure who could do no wrong and after reading the book I found I was mostly right. However, I did appreciate the author's effort to make him human, he had his 'faults' and he was to some extent a man of his time (when it came to his personal life (ie., women)). But when it came to his science, and in particular his mind, the man is a true Genius. His mind works with such clarity and foresight, it's truely amazing. The only part of the book I found not to my liking, was that the author feels the need to explain the ins and outs of some fairly complex physics, which I was not prepared to try to understand. I can only begin to imagine how complex that field is if the version 'we' were given in the book was the very watered-down version of the field. You dont need to understand quantum physics to be amazed by Feynman. In all, it was an insightful book and well worth the time!