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No Ordinary Genius: The Illustrated Richard Feynman

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This is a wonderful book for all those individuals who are even remotely interested in the life of the great Richard P. Feynman. It is illustrated with pictures that cover the entire scope of his life; from his earliest days as a boy all the way up to his final years.

The book is mostly a collage of anecdotes and commentary written by a slew of people from all walks of life. We hear from an artist friend of his, Feynman's musician friends, his sister Joan (who herself received a Ph.D. from Syracuse university) and his daughter, as well as the memories of such distinguished colleagues as Freeman Dyson, Hans Bethe and Marvin Minsky.

So order this book, borrow this book, do whatever you have to do to read & enjoy it. Come, take a tour of the life of a humble & friendly (and extraordinary) genius. You owe it to yourself.

Richard Feynman was a remarkable man who lived many remarkable lives, most of which are succinctly summarized in this fast, engaging read. Relying upon testimonials from close friends and associates of Feynman's and mostly from Feynman's own recollections, No Ordinary Genius delves into each of these lives, including Feynman's childhood obsession with finding out how things worked (a trait inherited from his father), his work at Los Alamos both as the keeper of the keys to the mainframe processing the mathematical calculations for the Manhattan Project and as the head of on campus hi-jinx and safe-cracking, his Nobel Prize for developing the field of Quantum electrodynamics (and along the way the now famous "Feynman diagrams" which have become the physicist's graphical tool for "viewing" sub-atomic activity), his very early visionary forays into what has become nanotechnology, and his ability to buck the NASA bureaucracy and quickly get to the bottom of what really went wrong with the 1986 Challenger disaster. Along the way we learn of his love of people (including his two wives, the first of whom died when she was only about 20 years old of TB), of life, and of physics (though probably not in that order), and what begins to emerge is a rare character, a multi-dimensional, and apparently "human" genius-one with foibles like anyone else...but one surprisingly devoid (at least as Sykes's book of recollections would have us believe) of the peccadilloes and neuroses of similarly brilliant historic figures. In fact one wonders whether Feynman's relative "normalcy" may have prevented him from being more widely known outside of scientific circles. This is itself somewhat ironic as Feynman was not just a brilliant physicist in his own right, but was perhaps the greatest interpreter (and hence most accessible) of all physicists who tried to explain how the world really worked to the rest of us.

Feynman was often criticized for not giving greater weight to the moral consequences of the actions of scientists like him who were responsible for creating "the" Bomb. At one point toward the end of the book, and partially in response to this question about the morality of scientific progress, Feynman observes the interesting irony that it's only in the most free, open, and democratic societies (i.e, the U.S.) that computers capable of infringing the most upon individuals' privacy have been developed. I.e., the countries that would have stood to benefit the most from this advanced "snooping" technology (i.e., the USSR, China, etc.) during Feynman's Cold War days, weren't able to produce the requisite technological infrastructure.

Later, towards the end of the book, the Nobel laureate, Marvin Minsky speaks about a feeling he and Feynman shared about man's soul. "Now here you are, a person, and thirty thousand genes or more are working to make the brain, the most complicated organ. If you were to say it's just a spirit, just a soul, just a little hard diamondlike point with no structure, a gift from some creator, it's so degrading! It means that all of the sacrifice by all of our animal ancestors is ignored. It seems to me [any by implication, Feynman] that the religious view is the opposite of self-respect and understanding. It's taking the brain with a hundred billion neurons, and not using it. What a paradoxical thing to be taught to do!"

So at once you have Feynman then specifying democracy and freedom as the necessary precursors to allow for scientific innovation. Then later he's demonstrating his "belief" in the pre-eminence of reason over non-fact-based belief and religion. Though non-Objectivists and spiritualists could debate his point-of-view, it is particularly refreshing to observe in thought and action a true seeker of the way things truly work. In many respects, Richard Feynman was Ayn Rand's John Gault.

This book should be read as a precursor to getting to know one of the great characters of the 20th century. But it won't suffice if one really wants to understand his genius. For that, one has to read his two books of "Six Easy Pieces", his lecture on Quantum Electrodynamics, or most appropriately of all, his Lectures on Physics.

My reading of "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman" was surely "forced" me to read the life of Richard Feynman furthermore: NO ORDINARY GENIUS is a GREAT BOOK. Family, friends and colleagues of Feynman share their views regarding the genius (with bump's-language-style) Feynman. The photos are great and can make a good spot on his life. Truly inspiring especially when he stated that he's an irresponsible man! And also, he couldnt stop to do physics until several days before his death: he's still doing the physics in 70. Feynman also brought the tiny-state named TOUVA to the world: even a geographic teacher wouldn't know bout this region! Buy this book, okay?

I have just purchased this book, and I am finding it difficult to put down. After having greatly enjoyed Feynman's autobiographical works, I was interested in finding out more about his life. And this book certainly didn't disappoint. On the other hand, I must say that I sometimes feel sad that the best most of us can hope for is to be Sallieris to Feynman's Mozart.

The most extraordinary scientist of his time, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman had an immense love of life and all it offered. No Ordinary Genius traces Feynman's remarkable adventures, inside and outside science, in his own words and those of his family, friends, and colleagues. Review by BookList: Feynman was a brilliant and puckish physicist, dynamic teacher, charming storyteller, and all-around buffoon who inspired near hero worship in the people he worked and played with. "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" (1984), a collection of autobiographical anecdotes, became a best-seller, while two major biographies, James Gleick's superbly readable "Genius" (1992) and this year's in-depth "The Beat of a Different Drummer" by Jagdish Mehra, delve into both his quirky personality and his influential career. This photo-album tribute presents a series of quick-but-intimate portraits through photographs of Feynman and friends and a selection of entertaining and revealing excerpts from interviews and conversations. The pictures and text are from the documentaries independent filmmaker Sykes made about Feynman's life and science. The supporting cast includes physicists Richard Davies, Freeman Dyson, David Goodstein, and John Archibald Wheeler as well as a couple of computer scientists, artists, musicians, and Feynman's children. The main events of Feynman's life--winning the Nobel Prize; working at Los Alamos; discoveries in superfluidity, diffusion, and radioactive decay; and investigation into the "Challenger" tragedy--are all discussed, as is Feynman's gift for having fun.

Excellent book for anyone looking for a pictorial representation of Feynman.

The last pages of the book are especially moving, as they deal with Feynman's death. No fan should miss it.

This is a very insightful and informative biography of one of the 20th century's great minds. Just finished Gleick's excellent bio and picked this up. This book gives more insight into what others thought about Feynman---and they pull no punches. No Ordinary Genius is an excellent, topical biography in the words of the participants. Well done and recommended.

Don't be iontimidated by thinking there may be too much math or physics in this book. This is not a scientific biography as much as it is a fun trip through some of the things that made Richard Feynman so loved by all who knew him.

I admire the author's choice to have Feynman's colleagues contribute their knowledge of the incidents discussed. In many cases Feynman himself is cited to help understand the situation extant.

Whether you know Feynman's life well or not, this book is a fun read.

If you know of Richard Feynman's life and work, this is a great book, full of pictures and anecdotes from other emminent physicist w/ whom he worked (and sometimes clashed).

Very easy and pleasing to read. Nothing too in-depth e.g. Feynman's disdain for written fiction, "...I read 'Madame Bovary' once and it was NIFTY!". No more analysis beyond that. Enough said if you know something of the person.