Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (Paperback)

~ Richard P. Feynman (Author) "Richard Feynman received his undergraduate degree from MIT in June of 1939..." (more)
Key Phrases: reasonable deviations, sincerely yours, Los Alamos, Dearest Putzie, Professor Feynman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Few books really are 'a joy to read.' This one, full of charm and wisdom, truly is." (New Scientist) A Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a loving husband and father, an enthusiastic teacher, a surprisingly accomplished bongo player, and a genius of the highest caliber---Richard P. Feynman was all these and more. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track--collecting over forty years' worth of Feynman's letters--offers an unprecedented look at the writer and thinker whose scientific mind and lust for life made him a legend in his own time. Containing missives to and from such scientific luminaries as Victor Weisskopf, Stephen Wolfram, James Watson, and Edward Teller, as well as a remarkable selection of letters to and from fans, students, family, and people from around the world eager for Feynman's advice and counsel, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track not only illuminates the personal relationships that underwrote the key developments in modern science, but also forms the most intimate look at Feynman yet available. Feynman was a man many felt close to but few really knew, and this collection reveals the full wisdom and private passion of a personality that captivated everyone it touched. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track is an eloquent testimony to the virtue of approaching the world with an inquiring eye; it demonstrates the full extent of the Feynman legacy like never before. Edited and with additional commentary by his daughter Michelle, it's a must-read for Feynman fans everywhere, and for anyone seeking to better understand one of the towering figures--and defining personalities--of the twentieth century.

"This collection of letters shows us for the first time the son caring for his father and mother, the father caring for his wife and children, the teacher caring for his students, the writer replying to people throughout the world who wrote to him about their problems and received his full and undivided attention." (Freeman Dyson, New York Review of Books)

"With the publication of Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track, we get Feynman direct-from his mind to the stationery and into the envelope. Compiled by his daughter, Michelle Feynman, the result is a labor of love and, at times, too much of a good thing.... Feynman often insisted that he couldn't write. Now we know better. It was another of his jokes." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

"Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman makes palpable the legend that surrounds this Nobel laureate and Caltech physics professor nonpareil. His correspondence affords the intimate yet respectful conversation with a genius usually reserved for a close friend or member of the family." (Christian Science Monitor)

About the Author

Richard P. Feynman was raised in Far Rockaway, New York, and received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1942. He played an important role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II, and went on to professorships at both Cornell University and the California Institute of Technology, where his unconventional lecture style secured his reputation as one of the greatest teachers of his era. In 1965 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on the development of the theory of quantum electrodynamics.

Besides his work as a physicist, Feynman was at various times an artist, raconteur, bongo player, and safecracker, as well as the author of many books, including the bestselling Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, and Six Easy Pieces, named one of the best 100 nonfiction books of the twentieth century by The Modern Library. He died in 1988.

Michelle Feynman lives with her husband and two children in Altadena, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465023711
• ISBN-13: 978-0465023714
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #174,730 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Letters of a genius with Asperger Syndrome, January 11, 2007

By	John Blackwell (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book complements the other biographical and (semiauto)biographical works on Richard Feynman. In many ways we see him more intimately than ever before.

I once read a book describing the Roman Catholic Church as a struggle between saints and cardinals. (I would love to refind this book.) The cardinals were the guardians of orthodoxy, the saints broke new ground. The cardinals often burned the saints for heresy, then the saint's ideas became accepted and the next generation of cardinals beatified the ex-heretic (while burning the next future saint). Saint Joan is the best-known example of this habit.

Whether it is Einstein (who was described as a lazy dog by his professors at graduate school) or Feynman (whose paper that ultimately recieved the nobel prize was originally excoriated by his seniors) events move faster now, and original minds can now be canonized within their lifetimes. Einstein famously said something like "I always resented authorities - God has now punished me by making me an authority".

This book can be regarded as the record of Feynman's attempt to evade or accept this fate.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great complement to the other Feynman books, March 22, 2009

By	Nikitas Liogkas (Syosset, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before reading this book, I had read both the classic "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman", and its sequel, "What Do You Care What Other People Think?". In my opinion, all three books are well worth reading, but, interestingly, for different reasons each.

The first book contains several intriguing stories, mainly from Feynman's personal life, which are entertaining in their own right, but also provide insight into the personality of this unique individual. Highly recommended! The second book starts off in a similar spirit, but concludes with a more serious discussion of the Challenger accident investigation. Not as entertaining, but still interesting.

This book is simply a collection of letters to and from Feynman throughout his lifetime. As such, some of the letters, lacking background knowledge, can feel a bit out of place at times. However, having a general framework of reference from the other two books, I found this one much more revealing in details about Feynman's character than any of the two other books. However, I'm not sure how much I would have gotten out of it if this had been my first Feynman book. Thus, I would strongly recommend you read at least "Surely You're Joking" before you pick this one up.

Overall, the value of this book lies in bringing together different stories we have read about in the two other books, giving us a warm and fuzzy feeling of closure. Many of the letters describe the behind-the-scenes personal details missing from the somewhat neutral story descriptions in the first two books, thereby completing the picture of this "curious character".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly reasonable listening, June 2, 2009

By	Victor Mark (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My wife recently gave me the audio version of this book (on CD). I never had listened to an audio book before, but with my background in science (medicine), I gave it a try, having read the various short autobiographies by Feynman. First, though, I converted the CD files to MP3 files in my iTunes program, then listened to the entire book over several weeks in my car on the way to and from work. (All of the 8 CDs can be fitted onto a 2GB Nano iPod, thus minimizing the inconvenience of having to swap out discs while listening.)
I was very surprised. The book is voiced by Richard Poe (doing all of Feynman's words) and Johanna Parker, who plays the voices of various correspondents, male or female. Richard Poe comes across as no-nonsense, crusty, harrumphing sort of person, while Johanna Parker is alternately devotional (Feynman's first wife) or takes on various other personas (an Indian undergraduate science student, a grade school boy, a British correspondent), all inflected appropriately.
The book takes us through the years of Feynman's professional career, from graduate studies to his work for the Shuttle disaster commission in 1986, shortly before his death from an abdominal tumor. Unfortunately, there are large gaps in the collection, probably a result of the inability to locate crucial letters for various reasons, and there is virtually nothing from Feynman's last wife (and nothing from his second wife, from a brief marriage Feynman would have preferred to forget).
Aside from this, the recording was very compelling. One could hear the wisdom of this great (if pompous) scientist, who repeatedly argued for a rational approach to problem solving. It was like hearing a well-regarded counselor in my car, a father figure (who himself was a proud father). The words are not too difficult for people without science backgrounds. You hear his views on promoting women in science, raising children, Greek archeology. Sometimes his responses are all too terse, just one sentence, but these convey how much he wanted to get right to the point.
Both Poe and Parker are very engaging, and after several hours' listening, the story is over all too quickly. So, you play it again.
Well worth listening to for anyone who wants to be inspired to take the most direct and logical way to sort through life's problems.