Feynman

Some of the links in the original post are now dead due to YouTube taking loads of stuff down, so I will have to sort out an updated version and get it on here.

That's great - thanks! I see you're in Norwich. I did my first degree at UEA when younger and am hoping to move back to Norwich in the next couple of months. It's a small world.

Well since I will no doubt be seeking help from others on the observational and imaging side of things in the coming months, I thought I would contribute to the site in a way that I am able to by sharing a list of Feynman links that I composed for an Open University forum (and also as a FB note) about a year ago. I compiled this list of resources primarily with the hope that it might help to inspire and motivate those new to physics and/or those who are not yet familiar with Feynman’s life and work, but I hope that already fully fledged Feynman fans and/or those who are already well-read in physics will also find it useful. For those who are not familiar with this great man, Richard P. Feynman was an American theoretical physicist known for his work on the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics (for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965), particle physics, and the superfluidity of liquid helium. Perhaps more importantly, he was an excellent communicator and keen populariser of science; possessing a colourful, influential personality, he has inspired several generations of physicists like no other. I’ve separated the resources into the five headed sections listed below: Books – Reminiscences & Biographies Books – Texts, Lectures & Popular Science Videos – Documentaries & Talks Videos – Lectures and Popular Science Audio Recordings The first section contains a list of the most popular – and I think the best – of his autobiographical and biographical works, and the second section is a fairly comprehensive list of his texts, popular science books and lecture transcriptions. The three remaining sections contain what I believe to be a complete list of all Feynman video and audio recordings freely available on the net - there are other documentaries and fan videos out there, but they use content from one or more of the resources already listed below and are also usually not quite up to the same standard as the original resources. Where to start? If you are new to Feynman and want to learn about the man himself, a good place to start would be to watch BBC Horizon (1981): The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, and read Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman?. For an excellent introduction to the nature of the laws of physics, you might like to start with The Character of Physical Law, which is based on a set of lectures given by Feynman at Cornell University in 1964. So, on to the lists... BOOKS – REMINISCENCES & BIOGRAPHIES Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character A series of engaging and sometimes hilarious anecdotes, I reckon this amazing book should be read by everyone! Go buy it! Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character as Told to Ralph Leighton ‘What Do You Care What Other People Think?’: Further Adventures of a Curious Character Some more excellent Feynman anecdotes; if you read Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman!, you’ll almost certainly end up ordering this book straight after. 'What Do You Care What Other People Think?': Further Adventures of a Curious Character The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman This is primarily a collection of some of the best anecdotes from previous books, but it does also contain some new material. The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman Tuva or Bust! This is a book written by Feynman's best friend, Ralph Leighton, about their attempts to visit Tuva, which was then in the heart of Soviet Russia. Tuva or Bust! No Ordinary Genius This book was written by Christopher Sykes, the filmmaker who was responsible for four Horizon episodes on Feynman (The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1981), The Quest for Tannu Tuva (1988), and No Ordinary Genius – 2 Episodes (1993)), as well as the Fun to Imagine series. It covers pretty much the same material as the Horizon episodes that it shares its name with. No Ordinary Genius Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics An excellent biography by James Gleick. Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science I’ve personally yet to read this biography by Lawrence Krauss, but a couple of friends have given it a thumbs up, and it was also recently awarded Physics World (published by the Institute of Physics) Book of the Year for 2011. Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science BOOKS – TEXTS, LECTURES & POPULAR SCIENCE The Character of Physical Law This book is based on the series of seven lectures that Feynman gave at Cornell University in 1964. Links to video recordings of these lectures are included in the ‘Videos’ list below. The Character of Physical Law The Feynman Lectures on Physics Possibly the most popular physics texts ever written, these three volumes are based on lectures given by Feynman at Caltech in the early 60s. The Feynman Lectures on Physics The Feynman Lectures on Physics – Online Version Caltech and The Feynman Lectures Website have published a free online edition of all three volumes; you can also find exercises here. The Feynman Lectures on Physics - Online Version Feynman’s Lost Lecture: The Motions of the Planets Around the Sun This is referred to the ‘lost lecture’ because it was not included in The Feynman Lectures on Physics due to missing notes; however, the notes were later found and converted into the above book. The lecture was originally delivered by Feynman at Caltech in 1964. Feynman’s Lost Lecture: The Motions of Planets around the Sun QED – The Strange Theory of Light and Matter This book is based on the four Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures on quantum electrodynamics that Feynman gave at the University of Auckland in 1979. Links to video recordings of these lectures are also included in the ‘Videos’ list below. QED - The Strange Theory of Light and Matter Six Easy Pieces: Fundamentals of Physics Explained A book containing six of the less challenging chapters from The Feynman Lectures on Physics (above). Six Easy Pieces: Fundamentals of Physics Explained Size Not-so-easy Pieces: Einstein’s Relativity, Symmetry and Space-time Another six chapters from The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Six Not-so-easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-time Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures The text of the lecture given at Cambridge in 1986; a link to a video recording of this lecture is included in the ‘Videos’ list below. Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures Lectures on Gravitation A transcription of lectures on gravitation given by Feynman at Caltech in 1962. Lectures on Gravitation The Theory of Fundamental Processes Feynman covers the basic ideas of quantum mechanics and relativity before getting on to the main topic of the lectures: QED. The Theory of Fundamental Processes Quantum Electrodynamics A collection of lectures and papers on QED. Quantum Electrodynamics Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals Feynman introduces the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics and discusses its applications. Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals Statistical Mechanics: A Set of Lectures Note of lectures given by Feynman on statistical mechanics and the physics of condensed matter. Statistical Mechanics: A Set of Lectures VIDEOS – DOCUMENTARIES & TALKS BBC Horizon (1981): The Pleasure of Finding Things Out This is probably my favourite science programme of all time, and is at least in part responsible for my fascination with physics. If you only watch one of these videos, this is the one that you should watch! BBC Horizon (1981): The Pleasure of Finding Things Out The Feynman Series Following the success of The Sagan Series, the creator has put together a Feynman Series of wonderfully inspirational videos. The Feynman Series (Part 1) - Beauty The Feynman Series (Part 2) - Honours The Feynman Series (Part 3) - Curiosity The Feynman Series (Part 4) - The Key to Science The Feynman Series (Part 5) - Think Like a Martian BBC Horizon (1988): The Quest for Tannu Tuva PBS The Last Journey of a Genius This episode contains footage from the 1981 episode of BBC Horizon and Fun to Imagine, but it mainly focuses on his final days and his obsession with travelling to Tuva with his friend, Ralph Leighton. It was broadcast in the UK under the title The Quest for Tannu Tuva, and in the US under the title The Last Journey of a Genius. BBC Horizon (1988): The Quest for Tannu Tuva BBC Horizon (1993): No Ordinary Genius (2 Episodes) PBS The Best Mind Since Einstein These two episodes of Horizon also contain some footage from the 1981 programme, but it is mostly new material from the late 80s and early 90s, including a number of interviews with his sister, friends, and colleagues. It was broadcast in the UK under the title No Ordinary Genius, and in the US under the title The Best Mind since Einstein. BBC Horizon (1993): No Ordinary Genius (2 Episodes) BBC Horizon (1964): Strangeness Minus Three Feynman discusses symmetry, strangeness, and the omega-minus particle. BBC Horizon (1964): Strangeness Minus Three BBC (2013): The Fantastic Mr Feynman 25 years after his death, family and friends celebrate Feynman's life in this new BBC documentary. BBC - The Fantastic Mr Feynman (2013) ITV (1973): Take the World From Another Point of View A Yorkshire TV programme first broadcast in 1973. Take the World from another Point of View Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science (CERN talk by Lawrence Krauss) As the title suggests, this is a talk that Lawrence Krauss gave at CERN on his book published last year. Krauss seems to have got nearly all of his material – for this talk, at least – from Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?; so if you have read those books already, you probably won’t learn anything new from this talk. Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science (CERN talk) – Lawrence Krauss Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science (talk by Lawrence Krauss) This is pretty much the same talk as the one above, though here he is giving it at a book store and so he includes a little more basic science for those with no background in the subject. Lawrence Krauss - Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science VIDEOS – LECTURES & POPULAR SCIENCE Richard Feynman Messenger Lectures (1964): The Character of Physical Law This famous series of seven lectures was given by Feynman at Cornell University in 1964 as part of the Messenger Lecture series. Note: these are the lectures which are featured in Microsoft’s Project Tuva. The Character of Physical Law – Part 1 – The Law of Gravitation The Character of Physical Law – Part 2 – The Relation of Mathematics to Physics The Character of Physical Law – Part 3 – The Great Conservation Principles The Character of Physical Law – Part 4 – Symmetry in Physical Law The Character of Physical Law – Part 5 – The Distinction of Past and Future The Character of Physical Law – Part 6 – Probability and Uncertainty The Character of Physical Law – Part 7 – Seeking New Laws BBC (1983): Fun to Imagine Feynman explains how the world works in this series of 12 short videos that were first broadcast on BBC in 1983. Fun to Imagine 1: Jiggling Atoms Fun to Imagine 2: Fire Fun to Imagine 3: Rubber Bands Fun to Imagine 4: Magnets (and ‘Why?’ Questions...) Fun to Imagine 5: Bigger is Electricity! Fun to Imagine 6: The Mirror Fun to Imagine 7: The Train Fun to Imagine 8: Seeing Things Fun to Imagine 9: Big Numbers and Stuff – Part 1 Fun to Imagine 10: Big Numbers and Stuff – Part 2 Fun to Imagine 11: Ways of Thinking – Part 1 Fun to Imagine 12: Ways of Thinking – Part 2 Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures (1979): QED In these Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures – given at the University of Auckland in 1979 – Feynman talks about quantum electrodynamics, the theory for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. QED Part 1: Photons – Corpuscles of Light QED Part 2: Fits of Reflection and Transmission – Quantum Behaviour QED Part 3: Electrons and their Interactions QED Part 4: New Queries Esalen Workshop (1983): Quantum Mechanical View of Reality In this workshop given in Esalen in 1983, Feynman discusses his theories of how the world looks from the point of view of modern quantum physics, wave-particle duality, the uncertainty principle, the question of hidden variables, Bell's theorem, and the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 1.1 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 1.2 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 1.3 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 1.4 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 1.5 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 2.1 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 2.2 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 2.3 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 3 Quantum Mechanical View of Reality 4 Idiosyncratic Thinking (1984): Tiny Machines This was a lecture that Feynman gave on Nanotechnology in 1984. Idiosyncratic Thinking: Tiny Machines Idiosyncratic Thinking (1985): Computers From the Inside Out In this lecture delivered in 1985, Feynman discusses the basics of computer science. Idiosyncratic Thinking: Computers From The Inside Out - The Feynman Lecture on Heuristics Dirac Memorial Lecture (1986): Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics Feynman delivers this lecture at Cambridge University. Because of the poor resolution of this recording, it is impossible to see the overhead projector screen, and that makes this lecture very difficult to follow. Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics – 1986 Dirac Memorial Lecture AUDIO RECORDINGS Los Alamos From Below (1975) A talk given by Feynman at Santa Barbara on February 6, 1975 about his time working on the Manhattan Project. Los Alamos From Below Six Easy Pieces Recordings of the original lectures on which the book is based. Six Easy Pieces (Audio) There are also a number of additional audio recordings of Feynman which I am currently unable to find freely available on YouTube or similar: The Feynman Lectures on Physics: The Complete Audio Collection Recordings of the original lectures from which Feynman’s famous texts were transcribed. I am unable to find a link to a freely available copy of this on YouTube, but you can find more information on volume numbers and titles here. Six Not-So-Easy Pieces Recordings of the original lectures on which the book is based. Feynman’s Lost Lecture: The Motion of the Planets around the Sun A recording of the original lecture on which the book is based. Safecracker Suite A collection of drum pieces interspersed with Feynman telling anecdotes. Nature of Matter All I know about this is that it exists! Not only am I unable to find a link to a freely available copy, I have no idea – beyond inferences made from the title – what this audio recording is of. Well that is about it! I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I have. Robert Ley.