Customer Reviews

Feynman's Tips on Physics: A Problem-Solving Supplement to the Feynman Lectures on Physics

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This is a pleasant, conversational book on solving freshman-level physics problems (albeit interesting ones). The goal, of course, is to pick up physical intuition though Feynman's commentary; and for the most part, it does this well. Feynman's wit and charm come through very well, making this a pleasant read for anyone.

However, for those looking for a timeless classic like The Feynman Lectures on Physics, one might be a little disappointed. Feynman's insights in this book are genuine and instructive, but they lack the depth of his Feynman Lectures. Where the Feynman Lectures are volumes to be kept, cherished, and re-read occasionally (certainly during one's undergradaute career) because of their ability to enlighten even after one has learned the subject from traditional means, Feynman's Tips on Physics offer very little for those who have mastered introductory physics.

This, of course, is not a fault--it is exactly the goal that the book (and Feynman's original recitation sections) set out to fulfill, but Feynman-aficionados might be slightly disappointed all the same.

To its credit, the introduction by Matt Sands and the closing question and answer transcript were a very nice read and earned this book its place among The Feynman Lectures and Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman.

Feynman is one of my favorite authors, along with scientists like Gould and Dawkins. I own and have read most of his books, including his lectures on physics. I particularly like his way of teaching, and the way he puts explanations at the student's level. I've spent too much time around bellicose instructors who mistook for knowledge a vocabulary full of multi-syllable words and long tortured sentences; Feynman is their antithesis.

Ralph Leighton and Michael A. Gottlieb are co-authors of "Feynman's Tips on Physics." In addition to editorial work associated with assembling Feynman's lectures, Leighton wrote the Forward, and Gottlieb the Introduction. There's also a Memoir by Matthew Sands describing the origins of the Feynman Lectures on Physics. Leighton and Gottlieb hunted for and found the (nearly lost) tapes and photographs and were the ones who negotiated (for about 5 years) with Caltech, the Feynman heirs and Addison-Wesley to arrange the book's execution. They also edited and illustrated the book.

Feynman's lectures in this book had their genesis in his concern, and among scientists and educators at Caltech, regarding the way they were teaching physics. Feynman's lectures in "Tips on Physics" came about as a consequence of Feynman giving additional help to students, particularly those who were having trouble keeping up. There's more to the book than Feynman's lectures, however, including Matt Sands memoir, and exercises in chapter 5.

While Gottlieb and Leighton are co-authors of "Tips," the part I liked best was purely Feynman. My thanks go to them primarily for making Feynman's teachings more accessible through their historical research into archived material. One of the things I like best about Feynman is his sense of humor. Take, for example, this snippet from page 17:

"...we've found a very serious problem [with grading]: no matter how carefully we select the mean, no matter how patiently we make the analysis, when they [the incoming students at Caltech] get here something happens: it always turns out that approximately half of them are below average!"

This was part of Feynman's explanation to the struggling students, explaining that even though they had been the best and brightest in their high schools, when they all came together half of them were going to be below average for the first time in their lives.

I consider "Tips on Physics" to be a good book, but it's probably the book I like least of all those devoted to Feynman's work. I suppose part of the reason is that the book isn't composed in a particularly logical way, and doesn't flow naturally from foundational concepts to derived topics. That's probably due to the circumstances in which the book was written; it's something of a hodgepodge of lectures given to struggling students, combined with material from the other authors in a form that doesn't flow as well as I'd like, with topics bounce around a bit.

Subjects include vectors (adding, subtracting, line, etc.) and the laws of gravity and motion. There are also solved problems that show how to use these various concepts. The end of the book consists of somewhat lengthy and quite interesting discussions about dynamics, including practical uses of gyroscopes and accelerometers. There's interesting practical material here, including the use of gyroscopes in stabilizing various platforms, and navigational systems using gyroscopes and accelerometers (see figure 4-21 on page 116).

The discussions about gyroscopes were the most interesting to me. These devices represent some of the most amazing mechanical inventions/designs of all time. Combined with accelerometers they form a complete navigational system. Such systems were critically important during the cold war, and were closely guarded secrets, since they were essential for targeting and delivery of nuclear weapons - both by intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as bombers. For example, on page 117 the book explains that an error of just 10^-5 g results, after integrating twice over an hour, in a positional error of over half a kilometer. Integrating twice for 10 hours increases the error to 50 kilometers.

Even though this isn't Feynman's best work I enjoyed it very much and consider it well worth reading.

I purchased this, thinking I needed it when purchasing the lectures, but it was already included in that purchase.

As a Feynman completist, I felt compelled to pick up this latest addition to the canon of one of science's greatest expositors, which is made up largely of excised review lectures from the course that generated some of the most highly regarded physics books ever printed (The Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition).

Whereas those lectures are voyages of discovery that make the reader feel that he is a true participant in the enterprise of science, those contained in this volume are generally more straightforward, and the reader is again but a lowly student ... albeit a student of one of the subject's greatest teachers. But that switch in mood is part of this book's appeal, for even as the reader trades the laboratory for the classroom in some of the more mundane aspects of problem solving, Feynman does so along with him. In fact, Feynman's admissions of the variety of mistakes he made while working out problems (some of which he admits to having to do several times in order to get them right while preparing for the lecture) made for some of the most entertaining and encouraging parts of the book. Feynman, one of the 20th century's greatest physicists, is grinding it out along with us, revealing himself to be vulnerable to the same little pitfalls that can haunt and discourage students in any hard science.

Beyond that, there are some true practical gems in the book, including a wonderfully simple method of differentiation that I had not seen presented Feynman's way until I read this book. Rounding out the lectures are some problems and solutions (not presented by Feynman) that solidify the book's practical aim. None of it is absolutely essential, and the book is arguably a bit pricey for its length. But it is certainly a worthwhile read, further enhanced, perhaps, by imagining Feynman's Far Rockaway accent as you read to make the experience of being his student seem a little more real.

Firstly, ANYTHING by Richard Feynman is compulsive reading. Having said that I was a little bit disappointed because I was expecting some personal tips on his math techniqes. There is an interesting approach to differentiation and some stuff on numerical integration. There is a great deal on gyroscopes. There is a common sense homily to those who have to face the fact that SOMEONE has to be in the lower quartile of a class, and not to get disturbed by this statistical fact. For the few dollars it costs it is well worth it !

It is not only a good suplement to the Feynman's Lessons, but also an independent book of iteresting exercises and a shows a excellent point of view on how to face the study of Physics

Feynman does it again, his expanse intelligence and foresight is captured very well in this book. As an undergraduate physics major I can say that all the tips I picked up in this book were on the money and extremely helpful.

Different parts of this book will appeal to different readers.
There is a lot of information about how the book came to be published, providing insight into Feynman's style.
There are the actual lectures, delivered mostly to students that were having trouble in the physics class, including the observation, mentioned in another review, that half the students have to be below average, even at Cal Tech.
These can help you improve your physical intuition.
There is a lecture on applied physics, covering gyroscopes and accelerometers
in navigation systems.
The numerical coefficients have probably been improved since then,
but the presentation is excellent.
There is also a collection of problems to practice on.
These seemed much better, much more realistic, much more interesting, than those I solved as a physics minor decades ago.

I hope a culinary analogy will help potential readers understand this book.
Yes this book is a bunch of leftovers.
Some chef's leftovers are better than most cooks' best efforts.
Feynman was a master chef in physics.

I found this book extremely useful and enjoyable to read. I suggest reading this book before starting to read Feynman Lectures.

I was there and heard these things in the early 60's. the lectures are still just as fascinating now as they were then, although I have forgotten most or all of the math that went with them.