Customer Reviews

The Character of Physical Law (Modern Library)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is yet another book that attempts to convey the essence of physics to common people. After explaining exactly why it can't be done, arguing that you'll never get it, Feynman goes right ahead and does it anyway.

For each topic, you get a feel for his goal in covering a topic. He explains gravity, yes, to explain gravity, but also because by explaining it he can also convey what essential properties gravity has that other laws have.

He also explains the difference between fundamental laws and the consequences of those laws. That the individual laws are reversible, but that probability is responsible for the arrow of time. He spends a lot of time showing the difficult relationship between the basic laws (which are reversible) and the irreversibility of events. Both are characteristics of the physical universe but the latter is not a fundamental law. The latter is a logical outcome of them.

So there's a hierarchy, which goes; fundamental laws like gravity at the ground level, consequences of them like irreversibility and surface tension at one level up, organic chemistry further up, then eventually concepts like tree, frog, man, pain, beauty, good and evil - each at a higher level, but based upon the levels below them, and difficult to fully predict using only the laws of the lower levels. The levels can be extended up and down. Below gravity is the unification theory of everything. Above good and evil are love, politics, etc.

And then he asks, of the extremes on this hierarchy, the fundamental laws and the most abstract concepts, which is closest to God? After asking for patience with his religious reference, he spends little time before revealing his belief that the question is flawed. To understand God is to understand how the levels interrelate; how the fundamental laws were "chosen" so that they would lead to the unfolding of all the beautiful complexity that we see around us.

Is this what you want to learn? Why else do we read these books than to attempt to gain a bit more insight into the eternal questions. Most authors that tackle the nature of the universe have a theological axe to grind (the need for God or not) and can't hide it. This book did more on this topic, with fewer pages, while offending me the least because of any theological bias (either way), than anything I've read before.

Every time I return to this book I pick up on more of Feynman's explanations. From almost beginning to understand angular momentum, to getting a feel for gravity, and how many laws have been integrated. For a novice at physics but with a keen interest this book gives an excellent background and, for me, is a joy to read each time, I can almost hear Feynman making his lectures and sharing jokes with his students. Each time I come away from reading this book I find myself pondering more about various aspects of physics and get a clearer idea of other books to buy to continue my current hobby of understanding the way the universe works just a little better (hopefully anyway :)

One the greatest theoretical physicists and popular lecturer, Feynman expresses his view on the puzzles, controversies, and problems at the core of physical theory. He uses as an example the law of gravitation to show that despite the simplicity of physical laws, they are not exact, there is always a mystery, always a place where there is further work to be done, so "scientists must stick their heads out." And what is most remarkable is not what scientists have been able to discover, but what nature has taught us. Feynman stresses the importance of mathematics as the key to any system of scientific laws (mathematics is more than just a language, it is language plus logic). This is a series of lecturers to be read preferably by those individuals who have a solid background in physics, otherwise you may find your neurons will not know in which direction they should fire! As Paul Davis rightly says: "theoretical physics is one the hardest of human endeavors, combining as it does subtle and abstract concepts that normally defy visualizations with a technical complexity that is impossible to master in its entirety." Feynman did have the genius to deal with it!

This book is apparently a nearly verbatim account of 7 Feynman lectures given at Cornell in the early 60s and is a short (but good) book. The level of these lectures was not highly technical so consequently a wide audience should find the book very readable. Of particular interest is the discussion of the way new physical laws are arrived at by scientists. Just be aware that as with other Feynman books every sentence packs non-trivial meaning so this is not a light read. It is a fun read especially for Feynman enthusiasts.

The book is a really good non-specialist's introduction to some of the basic ideas and attitudes of modern physics. It won't teach you physics, but it will teach you some important things about physics. This is an ideal book for a bright kid. It's accessible, and they have the thrill of being able to connect with the "real stuff". Smart high school kids know at some level that out of ignorance their teachers aren't really telling them the truth in math and science classes, and it's a thrill for them to hear things from someone who really does understand what they are talking about.

Anyway, this book is great, and you should get it for your smart kid who is interested in science. You should also demand that they put the lectures on DVD, because watching Feynman talk is even better than reading the books. He was a god in the classroom, and it's easy when you see the lectures to understand why he was worshipped by a generation of CalTech undergraduates.

My title is one sentence from these lectures. I was a math major, and had never heard my subject decribed so well.

The 12yrold son of friend of mine watched the six hours of videotape from which this book was transcribed in a single sitting, utterly refusing to stop.

This is Feynman at his absolute best, sharing his unique insights into the most fascinating subjects of all.

I wish Amazon would offer every reviewer the opportunity to give one book six stars, meaning 'better than the best'. For me, this book would get the six.

Can someone with freshman college physics understand Professor Feynmans theoretical physics? This cassette really combines well everything from Newton's Laws to quantum theory to Einsteinian gravity to the very mathematical (yet not too much) nature of physical law. The answer is with this two tape cassette (which I purchased and prefer) a definite yes. In spite of the fact that many of the readers aren't theoretical phyicists, this book really brings into focus "hard" physics. I bought this set hoping to benefit from Feynman's more humanistic teaching style and I was pleased with the results.

I highly recommend this read (listen).

The character of physical law is the character of any law. This lecture is a must for any scientist and anyone who wishes to become one. Professor Feynman tells you exactly how the process of developing and testing theories works. As he pointed out ' you can never be sure to be right, you can only be sure to be wrong', I'd say you cannot be wrong by listening to this tape. The book is superbly read by Jeff Riggenbach.

As a practicing physicist, having read and enjoyed Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" and Weinberg's "Lake Views", this Richard Feynman lecture series on the "Character of Physical Law" is even more enjoyable. It reaffirms simple truths in science research that are often forgotten in an age of automated analysis, that for example one must dig into the details of an experiment or observation with as little bias as possible to uncover the next aha moment and what is worth pursuing next (in my experience, one always finds something worthwhile if one digs, even if it is just explaining what went wrong) that arriving at the same answer by using different sets of equations (working in energy vs force space is a favorite example of mine) is anything but a waste of time, as different calculational paths lead on to connections to different phenomena. Despite being almost 50 years old, this series of lectures remains fresh (contrasting with books on Information Technology where one can get bored reading about predictions in technology advancement that have come true already 10 years later (for example, Bill Gates' late 1990's "Business at the Speed of Thought").

Dr. Feynman's love of science is most evident when he does presentations for non-professionals. His descriptions are complete and clear, helping us truly understand without the overwhelming mathematics that is his stock in trade. I am a physicist myself, and I still learn something every time I read one of his books. Try "You Must Be Kidding" for another fun trip.