Customer Reviews

The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Commemorative Issue Vol 1

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

 

 

This is a review of the AUDIO BOOK ON TAPE - despite Amazon's placement of this review on the printed book web-page.

Here's what you get:
Six hours of Feynman lecturing (in his characteristic idiosyncratic demeanor) to freshman & sophomore undergraduate students at Caltech during the first few years of 1960. I was born about 30 miles away from the CALTECH campus in the same year he was giving some of these lectures.
It is decidedly pleasant to listen to the obvious delight this brilliant man has for teaching. For example, his voice rises and falls in tempo, volume and pitch whenever gets enthusiastic about the wonderful knowledge he knows he is passing on to you, the student. Once in a while he chuckles at his own occasional mistakes and inside jokes. Sometimes he takes great pains to apologize for the incomprehensibility of historically "Old School" conventions in scientific notation & units. This will lead you to believe in his sincere sympathy for being on the receiving side of this detailed, if not convoluted, sea of information. Once in a while he will make an admission that he doesn't know it all - a humble trait I find charming. Nonetheless, his enthusiasm is contagious and you will feel blessed to have heard his original approach to such literally wonderful subjects.
Back to what it is that you get in these recorded audio lectures. The audio volume contains six cassettes, each of which is one classroom hour long. There is absolutely no audio editing of the background noise however the publisher announces the date, lecture title, and where each chapter subsection begins. It is interesting to hear the background noise of the students when 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 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 60 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!
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 in each book:

Cassette 1 = Volume I Chapter 2 Basic Physics - Sept. 29, 1963 (this lecture can be found in "Six Easy Pieces")
Section 2.1. Introduction
Section 2.2. Physics before 1920
Section 2.3. Quantum Physics (this is an interesting section - one of my favorites)
Section 2.4. Nuclei and particles

Cassette 2 = Volume III Chapter 1 Quantum Behavior - April 3, 1962 (this lecture can be found in "Six Easy Pieces" as well in Volume 10)
Section 1.1. Atomic mechanics
Section 1.2. An experiment with bullets
Section 1.3. An experiment with waves
Section 1.4. An experiment with electrons
Section 1.5. The interference of electrons waves
Section 1.6. Watching the electrons
Section 1.7. First principles in quantum mechanics
Section 1.8. The uncertainty principle

Cassette 3 = Volume III Chapter 2 The Relation of Wave and Particle Viewpoints - April 6, 1962 (this lecture can be found in Volume 10 of this series)
Section 2.1. Probability and wave amplitudes
Section 2.2. Measurement of position and momentum
Section 2.3. Crystal diffraction
Section 2.4. The size of an atom
Section 2.5. Energy levels
Section 2.3. Philosophical implications

Cassette 4 = Volume III Chapter 3 Probability Amplitudes - April 11, 1963
Section 3.1. The laws for combining amplitudes
Section 3.2. The two slit interference pattern
Section 3.3. Scattering from a crystal
Section 3.4. Identical particles

Cassette 5 = Volume III Chapter 5 Spin One - April 18, 1963
Section 5.1. Filtering atoms with a Stern-Gerlach apparatus
Section 5.2. Experiments with filtered atoms
Section 5.3. Stern-Gerlach filters in series
Section 5.4. Base states
Section 5.5. Interfering amplitudes
Section 5.6. The machinery of quantum mechanics
Section 5.7. Transforming to a different base

Cassette 6 = Volume III Chapter 6 Spin One-Half - April 22, 1963
Section 6.1. Transforming amplitudes
Section 6.2. Transforming to a rotated coordinate system
Section 6.3. Rotations about the z-axis
Section 6.4. Rotations of 180 and 90 degrees about y
Section 6.5. Rotations about x
Section 6.6. Arbitrary rotations

Check out my 'Listmania Lists' and 'Shared Purchases' by clicking on the "IndiAndy (see more about me)" link above. I've put together a handy list of all audio (and some video) Feynman...
I hope you enjoy your Feynman experience!

Regards,
IndiAndy

It is March 1999 and I am listening to September 1963's Richard Feymann - him obviously being in a very good mood - giving a lecture on basic quantumn physics. Wow! I have read the books that are based on these lectures but hearing Feynman himself gives me the chills. This guy enjoys the stuff and is capable of transfering this joy to his audience. No surprise his lectures became legendary. (Wish my physics professors had been a little bit more like this guy and less like tibetan monks :) One question remains - why the heck have these tapes been published so late? Gimme more - please!

August 18, 1999

After spending a good part of the last month listening to Richard Feynman's Physics lectures 1,3 and 4 I would like to raise my rating for these tapes to 5 (the highest possible).

Richard Feynman can really grow on you as you become part of his Physics class of 1961 - 1962. The audio level is well maintained throughout the series which was a problem in some of his earlier audio books.

I look forward to the University of Berkley California extending this Physics series continuously into new exciting topics.

For the Physics faculty who may be following these notes the tapes are used nightly for my 19 month old sons bedtime stories. Two hours a night, every night.

If your going to listen to something you might as well learn something interesting.

Thank you for creating this valuable series.

Arnold D Veness

What to say, it is the Feynman Lectures.
The print itself is nice, but not suitable for studying. The book would fall apart if a student would use it for studying. Since I got it just as a reference book, the quality of bonding and print is satisfying.

This book provided me with aditional insights on some of the basics on physics. There is an abriged version on sale at Barnes & Noble, but I recomend this complete version. The subject matter is handled very thoroughly and succinctly.

These lectures are a treat. Feynman's spirit in these lectures is unmistakable. Back in the day, I slogged through Haliday & Resnick, and appreciated the experience, but ... I would have loved these lectures. A great companion to the videos posted by Microsoft Research of the Cornell Messenger lectures by Feynman.

[...]

Recorded April - Sept 1963, Cal Tech
Cassette 1 - V1 Ch2 Basic Physics
Cassette 2 - V3 Ch1 Quantum Behavior
Cassette 3 - V3 Ch2 The Relation of Wave and Particle Viewpoints
Cassette 4 - V3 Ch3 Probability Amplitudes
Cassette 5 - V5 Ch1 Spin One
Cassette 6 - V3 Ch6 Spin One-half

There is something magical about listening to Richard Feynman deliver a lecture on physics.

July 12, 1999

First and foremost thank you for producing this initial release of Richard Feynman's Physics lectures.

I am a total fan of Richard Feynman's series of Physics lectures and enjoy them both for their knowledge and historic value but ...

I would really like to see a transcript made of this audio lecture and have it reproduced by a professional narrator like Jeff Riggenbach who has done work for audio scholar. Jeff Riggenbach's work is excellant! Listen to T-Rex and The Crater of Doom as one example.

I would repurchase all of the Richard Feynman Physics lectures done to date if this could please be done. The current tapes are OK but the sound quality and announciation could be so much better.

Please work with Audio Scholar if necessary to realise this new release and please continue producing advanced audio physics lectures. I would like your company to continue where Richard Feynman left off.

I use the tapes as audio edutainment on my way to work and as bedtime stories for my 18 month old son who has been listening to Richard since birth. I have allocated a budget of $1,000 a year for advanced audio edutainment like this. If you create it I will support it.

Arnold Veness