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The Feynman Lectures on Physics: The Complete Audio Collection: Volume 14: Feynman on Electricity and Magnetism, Part 1

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THIS REVIEW IS FOR VOLUME 14 OF THE RECORDED AUDIO LECTURES ON TAPE - NOT THE "FEYNMAN LECTURES ON PHYSICS" BOOK AND NOT ANY OTHER AUDIO VOLUME DESPITE AMAZON'S PLACEMENT OF THIS REVIEW ON THE WRONG VOLUME PAGE. (the system also seems to miss-associate these reviews with the incorrect audio volumes.) THIS IS PART ONE OF TWO VOLUMES ON ELECTRICITY & MAGNETISM - VOLUME #15 IS PART TWO.

OK, that warning aside, the subject is Electrodynamics. The man is Feynman. Here's what you get:
Six hours of Feynman lecturing (in his characteristic idiosyncratic demeanor) to students at the California Institute of Technology during the early years of the 1960's. Yes folks, that's right: Six 1 hour lectures on six audio tapes covering the first six contiguous chapters from which volume two of the printed lectures was transcribed. The lectures also cover some serious mathematics (Differential & Vector Calculus). This is where owning a copy of the printed lectures comes in handy for following the lecture from his transcribed use of the massive University lecture hall chalk-boards. The only audio editing is from the publisher announcing the date, lecture title, and where each chapter subsection begins. It is interesting to hear the background noise of the students as they file in and out of the lecture hall and towards the end of each lecture. You also hear bells in the hallway signaling the end of the class or possibly the lunch break. The students enthusiastically demonstrate their appreciation of Professor Feynman's efforts by applauding him at the end of each lecture. Of course Professor Feynman makes use of the chalkboard which you wont have the advantage of seeing but you could keep a copy of the printed lectures on hand (separate purchase) to get whatever visuals you need from the transcribed illustrated diagrams which were published (I have done this and it's handy). Mostly I just listen to these tapes (I have a collection of over 72 taped lectures) on my one hour a day commute each day, over and over again. It's like I'm always in school with the great genius of Feynman every day!
This audio volume (#14) is Part 1 of 2. The next six contiguous lectures will be available in audio volume #15. By the way, I wrote the publisher (Perseus Books Group) and asked them when Part 2 would be available to which they promptly sent the helpful reply:
'Volumes 15 and 16 of the Audio Collection will be coming out this spring. Volume 15 (Feynman on Electricity and Magnetism, Part 2) contains sections on electrostatic energy, electricity in the atmosphere-including lightning and thunderstorms-magnetostatics, and the magnetic field. Volume 16 (Feynman on Electromagnetism) discusses the vector potential, laws of induction, and the Maxwell equations. According to our production schedule, both volumes should be available by April.'

Well anyhow, I thought that you'd like to see how these audio lectures correlate to the printed 'Lectures on Physics' by audiocassette to volume & chapter for each book:

Tape #1 is from the printed lectures Vol. II Chapter 1: ELECTROMAGNETISM (Sept. 27, 1962)
1.1 Electrical forces
1.2 Electric and Magnetic fields
1.3 Characterizations of vector fields
1.4 The laws of electromagnetism
1.5 What are fields?
1.6 Electromagnetism in science and technology

Tape #2 is from the printed lectures Vol. II Chapter 2: DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS OF VECTOR FIELDS (Oct. 1, 1962)
2.1 Understanding physics
2.2 Scalar and vector fields - T and h
2.3 Derivatives of fields - the gradient
2.4 The operator del
2.5 Operators with del
2.6 The differential equation of heat flow
2.7 Second derivatives of vector fields
2.8 Pitfalls

Tape #3 is from the printed lectures Vol. II Chapter 3: VECTOR INTEGRAL CALCULUS (Oct. 4, 1962)
3.1 Vector integrals; the line integral of del Y
3.2 The flux of a vector field
3.3 The flux from a cube; Gauss' theorem
3.4 Heat conduction; the diffusion equation
3.5 The circulation of a vector field
3.6 The circulation around a square; Stokes's theorem
3.7 Curl-free and divergence-free fields
3.8 Summary

Tape #4 is from the printed lectures Vol. II Chapter 4: ELECTROSTATICS (Oct. 8, 1962)
4.1 Statics
4.2 Coulomb's law; superposition
4.3 Electric potential
4.4 E=-del f
4.5 The flux of E
4.6 Gauss' law; divergence of E
4.7 Field of a sphere of charge
4.8 Field lines; equipotential surfaces

Tape #5 is from the printed lectures Vol. II Chapter 5: APPLICATION OF GAUSS' LAW (Oct. 11, 1962)
5.1 Electrostatics is Gauss' law plus...
5.2 Equilibrium in an electrostatic field
5.3 Equilibrium with conductors
5.4 Stability of atoms
5.5 The field of a line charge
5.6 A sheet of charge; a spherical shell
5.7 A sphere of charge; a spherical shell
5.8 Is the field of a point charge exactly 1/r^2
5.9 The fields of a conductor
5.10 The field in a cavity of a conductor

Tape #6 is from the printed lectures Vol. II Chapter 6: THE ELECTRIC FIELD IN VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES (Oct. 15, 1962)
6.1 Equations of the electrostatic potential
6.2 The electric dipole
6.3 Remarks on vector equations
6.4 The dipole potential as a gradient
6.5 The dipole approximation for an arbitrary distribution
6.6 The fields of charged conductors
6.7 The method of images
6.8 A point charge near a conducting plate
6.9 A point charge near a conducting sphere
6.10 Condensers: parallel plates
6.11 High-voltage breakdown

(...) check out my other Feynman reviews & "Listmania Lists". Tell me what you think.

Thanks & Enjoy!
IndiAndy