I realize from this book that I wouldn't have done well in Feynman's classes. They were for students more brilliant and more dedicated than me. Feynman was known for presentations that dazzled during the telling, but with details that were easily forgotten soon after. ( )

Raw Feynmanese: "Feynman Tips on Physics"


Published July 31st 2005


I’ve read almost everything Feynman related. A few still remain to be read: Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters, Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory, and Feynman Lectures on Computation.

My first contact with Feynman happened in my first year of college. My physics’ teacher at the time was responsible for that. He introduced me to the marvelous world of The Feynman Lectures on Physics, and I was never the same. I used the 3 volumes for all of my physics classes (Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Thermodynamics, etc). I still remember my math classes (Infinitesimal Analysis I, II, III, IV) also gained immensely by my immersion in Feynman’s lectures. For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Bible, it’s full of tips and tricks, ie, short-cuts to able to get to the solutions faster than it’s normally possible. My grades in all of these classes greatly benefited. The Feynman lectures shouldn’t be used as a primary textbook for Quantum Mechanics, Mechanics, or Electromagnetism. Not because the 3 volumes are technically difficult, but because it's not very useful for learning technique. For that I used a more prosaic textbook. I don’t recall which one, but I still remember the Feynman Lectures.

You can find the rest of this review on my blog. ( )

Anything written by or worked on by this man is worth picking up and trying to understand. ( )