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Shop nowThe Pleasure of Finding Things Out
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Learn moreThe Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman, from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science—a life like no other. From his ruminations on science in our culture to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, this book will delight anyone interested in the world of ideas.
"From the irregular trivia of ordinary life mixed with a bit of scientific doodling and failure to the intense dramatic concentration as one closes in on the truth and the final elation (plus, with gradually decreasing frequency, the sudden sharp pangs of doubt)—that is how science is done."—Richard P. Feynman to James D. Watson
Richard P. Feynman (1918–1988) earned a BS from MIT and a PhD from Princeton. From 1942 to 1945, he assisted with the development of the atomic bomb. He then taught at Cornell and Caltech, where he contributed to the theories of superfluidity and quarks. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on the theory of quantum electrodynamics.
Sean Runnette, a multiple AudioFile Earphones Award winner, has produced several Audie Award-winning audiobooks. He is a member of the American Repertory Theater company and has toured internationally with Mabou Mines, an avant-garde theater company. Sean's television and film appearances include Two If by Sea, Copland, Sex and the City, Law & Order, Third Watch, and lots and lots of commercials, for which he apologizes.
Reviews
“A sparkling collection.”
“Feynman’s distinctive voice rings out in this book…Feynman is both interesting and quotable.”
“A delightful reminder of Feynman’s prodigious gifts.”
“Feynman had a fantastic sense of humor, and his memoirs of his Manhattan Project days roil with fun despite his later misgivings about nuclear weapons…The book is easygoing and engaging on a personal rather than a scientific level.”
“Feynman remains fun and informative. Here are yet more comments, anecdotes, and overviews from a charismatic rule breaker with his own, sometimes compelling, views about what science is and how it can be done.”
“This work, drawn from several sources, including speeches, interviews, and articles, has a personal feel. And Sean Runnette delivers it in a personal, conversational way… Perhaps the most illuminating and interesting part—for non-physicists, anyway—is the behind-the-scenes discussion of life at Los Alamos, New Mexico, during the WWII atomic bomb project. The account shows Feynman’s impish side and humanizes this episode in the history of the war. Some of the entries are highly technical, but Runnette carries them off without hesitating or stereotyping the speaker with a pedantic tone.”
“It is an ironic twist of fate that Feynman the iconoclast has become a twentieth-century icon. Feynman has a large and devoted following not because of his famous hijinks, or his skill as a bongo drum performer, or even his Nobel Prize in quantum electrodynamics. Feynman became an icon because he was a man of great integrity who did physics because it was fun. This collection of thirteen short works is a pleasure to read…Intended for a general audience, these lectures and presentations cover a wide range of topics, including his early life, philosophy, religion, nanotechnology, the future of computing, Los Alamos, fun with science, science and society, and the Challenger disaster. Recommended.”
“The most original mind of his generation.”
“[Feynman’s] fans will enjoy his recollections of his father and of his work on the atom bomb project when he was a somewhat awestruck nobody rubbing elbows with world-famous physicists. A popular addition to Feynmania.”
“More gems from the Feynman factory. If some things are old or borrowed, it hardly matters: there are enough new or unfamiliar to charm fans…All said, of course, in the idiom of the boy from New York whose pleasure in finding things out affords the reader another sort of pleasure.”
“This marvelous collection of talks, interviews, and essays offers a memorable sample of the wit, brilliance, and irreverence of the most celebrated physicist of our time. The more one reads of Feynman, the more one falls in love with his refreshingly enthusiastic view of the world.”
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