Customer Reviews

Richard Feynman: A Life in Science

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I love anything Feynman, like a great many people out there, but I found this book to be depressingly amateurish. The authors are overly infatuated with their subject and seem intent on breathlessly convincing us how wonderful Feynman was, as if we couldn't figure it out for ourselves.

To me, the most annoying feature of the book was the endless direct quotes from other Feynman books. Just what service is this book providing?

I wouldn't be so harsh if it weren't for the fact that Glieck's "Genius" has already covered all of the topics presented here, and with much more clarity and detail. I have trouble justifying why another biography was necessary. Without "Genius," this book would probably be more palatable.

The great thing that "Genius" did that this book never attempts, is to make Feynman human. Yes he was brilliant, yes he was funny, yes he was an incredible teacher. But he had a dark side as well, and "Genius" explores that without flinching.

In the end, I'd recommend passing this one up and getting "Genius".

I can't remember ever reading a biography quite as enjoyable. The authors are to be congratulated for their perfect blend of scientific and personal anecdotes. You won't find any of Feynman's lectures here, but you will come to understand why Feynman is so revered. The author's write, "Does the world really need another book about Richard Feynman? We think so, or we wouldn't have written it." I agree with them, and I'm sure you will too. A wonderful book.

There have been multiple biographies and compendiums honoring the lovable supergenius Richard Feynman, and his mindboggling accomplishments. This one is mostly a collection of snippets and anecdotes from previous books, but it probably gives the most concise and comprehensive coverage of Feynman's life and his vast influence on science. Granted, this particular bio does have a few flaws, especially in its rather breathless idolization of Feynman and his brilliance, to the point where the reader wonders if the gentleman had any flaws at all. Also, this book keeps trying to glamorize how approachable and lovably eccentric Feynman was, but these aspects of his personality don't really come through here, as John Gribbin can't quite make Feynman's hobbies like playing drums, or his love of teaching and reaching out to the masses, seem that amazing. But in any case, this is still a perfectly enjoyable biography because Feynman's brilliance in physics, and all the other intellectual endeavors he tackled, really does shine through. Gribbin also fleshes things out with pretty good coverage of Feynman's extensive contributions to physics, such as almost single-handedly inventing quantum electrodynamics, with the necessary background knowledge into modern and historical science. Despite a few problems with the structure of the biography, the person it's about really makes an impact with the reader. That can't be said about too many Nobel-winning eccentric genius physicists. [~doomsdayer520~]

I really enjoyed Richard Feynman - A Life in Science. The book is an interesting account of Feynman's life, and teaches a lot about physics as well. I feel that the author felt it was necessary to write about Feynman not only because of his scientific discoveries, but because of his view of the world, and how he brought that to science. The book is very interesting. It goes into detail about Feynman's career and life, and gives us details about all of his personality quirks. Richard Feynman is best known for his work in quantum electrodynamics, which he won a Nobel Prize for in 1965. He also worked on quark the theory of superfluidity and was a member of the Manhattan Project during World War Two. Feynman was famous for his lectures and teaching. He taught physics because he found it fun, and he conveyed this in his teachings. We should read this story because it teaches it about physics and the way the world works, but more importantly, because it presents us with Feynman's optimistic interesting view on life. I think that if we all learned a little of Feynman's philosophies, we would all be much happier and simpler people.

This book, written by John and Mary Gribbin, gives a great insight into the life of a truly amazing genius who was told the importance of understanding the way things work from childhood. Melville Feynman, Richard Feynman's father, raised his son to be a scientist and succeeded. Richard was inquisitive throughout his life. It is clear that his curiosity led him to work on solving problems that were new to him, even if they had been solved before. Feynman was not a social outcast like many scientists are believed to be, and the Gribbins weave in some interesting personal stories about Feynman. Richard Feynman had a wonderful life from the standpoint that everything in his scientific life worked out well, and he rarely seemed to have any major obstacles in his work. The topics that Feynman studied were difficult to understand and may be impossible to understand without having him to explain. The Gribbins do an excellent job of explaining the difficult and sometimes abstract things that Feynman worked on or discovered. Feynman had a knack for problem solving ever since he was young and magically (by thinking) could fix radios. It is clear that Feynman enjoyed the area of study he was in, and "he never knew when he was working and when he was playing" (p 250). His sister Joan said of him. Feynman did enjoy what he did and was always ready for a challenge either from a teacher or from a colleague that was stuck. Feynman lived a very interesting life and not only worked on physics but took up painting, traveling, and playing the bongos. The renown of Feynman was amazing; he knew people from all over the world that were amazing and unique. The life of this man was full of incredible discoveries that continued through his old age. Feynman was thankful for every day he had, especially after he was diagnosed with cancer. Feynman's last words were, "This dying is boring" (p 258). He loved life, and he knew his legacy would continue saying, "I've kind of spread me around all over the place. So I'm probably not going to go away when I'm dead!" (p 258). Feynman was right about his legacy because he contributed so greatly to science and society.

ÒRichard Feynman--A Life in ScienceÓ is a welcome addition, another view from yet another aspect. Other biographers have stressed different sides of Richard Feynman--magician, joker, non-conforming oddball, but this one is true to its subtitle, focusing on Feynman the scientist. For that was what Feynman was, first and foremost--incredibly inventive, irreverent and unconventional, yes, but underlying it all, an inquiring mind, a physicist of the very best. If you have more than a nodding acquaintance with science, and want to know what made such an extraordinary person tick (not that weÕll ever know it all), this is the one to read.

(...Part Two:)

This brings us to the Gribbin's rationale for writing yet "another book about Richard Feynman." Thing is, Feynman had one whale of a good time doing physics. He did it because it was fun, and when it wasn't fun, he didn't do it, instead dabbling in fields as diverse as biology, computing and bongo drumming. He was also, hands down, the finest teacher of physics who ever lived. As a first-year physics undergraduate myself, my sharpest memory before I left that field was of sitting alone in dreary, windowless room on the second floor of the physics building and popping in a videocassette of something called The Feynman Lectures. I slumped down in the chair, prepared to be bored into madness, doing this only because a good friend asked me to.

When the tape ended about an hour later, I blinked as I came out of a trance and finally brought my jaw back up, and realized that I had been in the presence of greatness. It was a performance, not a lesson, an exposition of physical principles delivered by a guy so nutso in love with the topic that oftentimes his voice choked with barely-repressed laughter. He had a clarity of style so compelling you couldn't resist absorbing the knowledge if you tried. The Lectures have since become classics, along with written compilations of other talks that have gone on to become best-selling books.

The Gribbins set themselves the task of bringing out these other sides of Richard Feynman, and in that sense they succeed only barely. First, there is really nothing new in this book that hasn't been dealt with elsewhere, and better, most notably by James Gleick in his book, Genius.

Second, while a great of simplification is absolutely necessary to convey some sense of the topic without overwhelming the novice, there are many statements in this book that are unnecessarily absolute, definitive and downright misleading. Telling us that QED explains "everything there is to explain about interactions involving electrons and photons [and] everything there is to explain about weak interactions" is inappropriate, giving us the impression that, on the day QED was published, all research in this area came to a screeching halt.

Third, and perhaps most unforgivably, you quickly come to realize that this book is less a careful examination of a man's life and work than it is a fawning, sycophantic adoration that attempts to elevate a mere mortal into the status of near-deity. This completely non-critical worship (of a man neither of the Gribbins ever met) becomes wearing and tedious after a while, especially when the authors provide testimonials from other notable scientists that add nothing of substance to the idolization, but seem to be some kind of attempt to externally validate their opinions, as though they themselves may have realized they were overdoing it and brought in evidence to prove to us they weren't kidding.

And just when we think we've had about enough of that, they crank it up another notch, this time in the form of a competition to see who among the elites of physics was the very best, starting on page 189. We learn that Feynman made more major contributions in a greater number of decades than any other physicist, including Einstein. We learn that, had the Nobel committee had their heads screwed on correctly, Feynman would rightfully have won three prizes, not just one. And just in case the clearly superior box score is still not evident, we learn that Murray Gell-Mann, the brilliant Nobelist who shared a secretary with Feynman at Caltech, was really a somewhat nasty sonofagun who was more interested in looking smart than being smart and, if you read between the lines, probably didn't really deserve his own Nobel prize.

Well, then: why do I think you should read this book? Because I feel that anything that has an outside chance of getting nonscientists to think about the quantum world is worth pursuing.

When I was in elementary school, we had a series of about a hundred biographies of well-known Americans: Knute Rockne, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Glenn Cunningham, etc. Geared for kids, these books were breezy, easy editions that read more like public relations releases than serious studies of people's lives. But we read them and, in many cases, they stuck with us when we got older and spurred us on to read more serious works about these people.

Richard Feynman - A Life in Science reads a lot like those books. I've read nearly all of John Gribbin's books on physics and he is the John Grisham of the field, coincidence of name notwithstanding. The best way for the amateur to come to the physics is through the people who made the physics, and the Gribbins do a reasonably good job of interweaving the two. There is a great deal of oversimplification of the science, but the fact is that there is no other way to do it and keep the difficult mathematics out of it. So, in the sense of introducing you to an extraordinary character (when Feynman got bored during his work on the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb during World War II, he cracked top-security safes just for laughs), and extraordinary science, the book has merit, and won't tax your brain too much.

However, if you're willing to tax your brain just a wee bit more, here's a much better idea: Read Genius by James Gleick, and In Search of Schroedinger's Cat by John Gribbin. The former is the best yet look at Feynman's work and life, and the latter may be the best single-book introduction to quantum physics for "the average Joe" you're likely to come across. My criticism of A Life in Science aside, perhaps only Isaac Asimov rivals Gribbin in his ability to translate the most arcane of scientific theories into breezy readabilty for popular consumption.

Gribbin & Gribbin outline their goal right at the outset: to bring both the flavour of Feynman the magician, and the wizardry of Feynman the scientist, to a larger audience which might otherwise not be aware of his remarkable contributions to 20th-century physics. In that goal they are successful, though the work's primary weakness is a palpable distinction between the enthusiasm with which its two elemental ingredents are communicated.

I am no physicist, and did not regard the book as an opportunity to try and become one, but I am now sufficiently intrigued to have a go at Feynman's introductory lectures.

In that sense, [of] QED, the Gribbins have fashioned an explorer.

Feynman had two favorite topics of conversation, viz., himself and his ability to out-IQ virtually everyone and everything he ever came across. He may even be (posthumously and via the Gribbins' book) responsible for overwhelming his fans intellectually to the point where they would indite, "incite" when they mean, "insight."

I wondered if another biography of Feynman could provide me with any further incite to a man I have been amused by and educated from during the last 35 years. I was delightfully suprised with the added information and clarity of explanation. Feynman's accomplishments are clearly described and his influence on 20th century science and scientists are the best I have read in any popularization or memorial volume. I found myself ready to do physics again, and went back and reread some of the older publications that Feynman wrote and even more fully appreciated his work. Gribbon's explanations are very clear and exciting. Feynman came alive for me again, and I can only say, "The Chief" is greatly missed as a teacher and supreme magician of physical insight