The Curious Mr. Feynman (Update)
5/22/20261 hr 3 min
From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our lives? (Part one of a three-part series originally published in 2024.)
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SOURCES:
- Helen Czerski, physicist and oceanographer at University College London.
- Michelle Feynman, photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman.
- Ralph Leighton, biographer and film producer.
- Charles Mann, science journalist and author.
- John Preskill, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.
- Stephen Wolfram, founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language.
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RESOURCES:
- "How Legendary Physicist Richard Feynman Helped Crack the Case on the Challenger Disaster," by Kevin Cook (Literary Hub, 2021).
- Challenger: The Final Flight, docuseries (2020).
- Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: Selected Letters of Richard P. Feynman, edited by Michelle Feynman (2005).
- The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, by Richard Feynman (1999).
- Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992).
- “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1988).
- "Mr. Feynman Goes to Washington," by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (Engineering & Science, 1987).
- The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986).
- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985).
- "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out," (Horizon S18.E9, 1981).
- "Los Alamos From Below," by Richard Feynman (UC Santa Barbara lecture, 1975).
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EXTRAS:
- "Exploring Physics, from Eggshells to Oceans," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsStephen Dubner· Host0:00
[piano music] The physicist Richard Feynman once explained where fire comes from.
Richard Feynman· Soundbite0:08
And the light and heat that's coming out, that's the light and heat of the sun that went in. So it's sort of stored sun that's coming out when you burn a, a log.
Stephen Dubner· Host0:19
The wildfires that hit Los Angeles last year burned down the house where Feynman and his family lived in Altadena. It was near the Caltech campus where he had taught for decades. Fire also destroyed Zorthian Ranch up in the hills, where Feynman loved to spend time. Those losses are regrettable, but they were just property. Feynman left a mark on the world that runs much deeper than mere property. In 2024, we made a three-part series called The Curious, Brilliant, Vanishing Mr. Feynman, and I thought now might be a good time to replay that series for you. Today, part one, The Curious Mr. Feynman. I hope you enjoy.
Michelle Feynman· Guest1:00
[piano music] So a little scrap of paper in my dad's writing. He had a weird way of working where he would just write on, like, if he ran out of paper or something, he would grab a Kleenex box or write on the corners of junk mail or wherever there was clear space.