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Richard P. Feynman

Ralph Leighton

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) Paperback – April 17, 1997

by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Ralph Leighton (Author), Edward Hutchings (Editor),

4,487 ratings

Book 1 of 2: Feynman Series

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“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”: Adventures of a Curious Character
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A New York Times bestseller―the outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original.

Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. Here he recounts in his inimitable voice his experience trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek; cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets; accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums; painting a naked female toreador. In short, here is Feynman's life in all its eccentric―a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.

Black-and-white photographs throughout

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

April 17, 1997
Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 8.3 inches
ISBN-10

0393316041
ISBN-13

978-0393316049
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith

Review

“A storyteller in the tradition of Mark Twain. He proves once again that it is possible to laugh out loud and scratch your head at the same time.”
- New York Times Book Review

“Quintessential Feynman―funny, brilliant, bawdy . . . enormously entertaining.”
- The New Yorker

“Buzzes with energy, anecdote and life. It almost makes you want to become a physicist.”
- Science Digest

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (April 17, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393316041
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393316049
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #131,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #58 in Science & Scientists Humor
- #90 in Science Essays & Commentary (Books)
- #428 in Scientist Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4,487 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		75%
4 star		16%
3 star		5%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Tammy H

Nope.

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

I never give up on books but I did on this one. Richard Feynman may have been brilliant but this book is really bad, just an account of all his (not-funny) pranks, many of which just make him seem like a selfish person. I put the book down when he yelled at a woman that she was a whore because he couldn’t get laid. Pretty gross, I don’t care how brilliant you are.

40 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mr. Truthteller

Not funny. Poorly written.

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2019

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Not funny at all. No really, just not funny. One of the primary sources of Mr. Feynman’s humor is making people who aren’t as smart as him look stupid through so-called “practical” jokes, which is a misnomer as the jokes aren’t practical at all just mean, petty, and abusive. Moreover, the writing is just bad. Bad, bad, bad. The so-called funny “stories” are at best vignettes that seem to have first been hurriedly written on a cocktail napkin, or maybe some stray toilet tissue, (ha, ha, ha, this is a good one, let me dash off something about it so I don’t forget) and submitted and printed without any editing at all. Of course, it’s possible I’m not as gifted in some of the ways that Mr. Feynman was (l’m in a different field so there’s no comparison even if, qualitatively, our standardized IQ scores were identical) but I’m likely wiser in that I don’t waste my gifts on hurting and humiliating others.

40 people found this helpful

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Tony Covatta

A wonderful book about a wonderful man

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2018

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We are not often blessed with persons of the amazing intelligence of Richard Feynman. Even someone with just a smattering of science and math can appreciate this Nobel Prize winning, bongo drum playing, safe cracking denizen of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. Here was a man of superior intellect who could yet relate to the world around him and who had a curious interest in many facets of human endeavor. That is coupled with obvious tenderness toward his first wife, who dies of TB during the Manhattan Project. Even as Feynman writes about that in tightlipped fashion, his deep love for her and sorrow for the loss comes through.

The book is not tightly organized but it is smartly written. Guys like Einstein, Feynman, Carl Sagan will all wrestle from time to time with the non-scientific question of what preceded the Big Bang, if only by asking fleetingly if there is some principle of causation behind it all. Obviously I don't know if God exists or what it all means. But it is hard for me to think that such a towering intellect encased in such a lovely witty and wise person results from mere accident. I'll go no further.

31 people found this helpful

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D. Rau

A tedious set of stories about how clever Feynman found himself to be.

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2019

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Certainly Fenyman was precious and his childhood stories would entertain. But the writing is not at all engaging and the stories not that remarkable to make it worth the time. Let me know if you want a free copy.

24 people found this helpful

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Alex Bush

Practical Intellectual Ethics Disguised in Hilarity

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2016

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Feynman is a genius. The entire book is full of charming, intelligent, and surprisingly inspiring stories about the "curious character" that was the late, great Richard Feynman.

The last chapter is something else entirely: an entire philosophy and ethos of scientific thought rolled into a few pages. I found Feynman's principles and ideals for scientific integrity almost unbelievably precious: to never compromise on experimentation, to never make claims you can't back up with hard evidence, and most importantly, to never fool yourself into thinking that you're more right than you actually are.

Although only the scientifically or mathematically trained will understand much about Feynman's actual work, his life philosophy and its implications are something that everyone can benefit from. The world would be a better place if each of us tried to replicate just a little of his intellectual integrity. I almost didn't believe such beautiful, pure intellectual idealism wasn't possible until I read this book.

32 people found this helpful

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Billy V

Life is an adventure!

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2020

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Although not covered in the book, Mr. Feynman’s last words before dying were said to be something to the effect, “I’m glad I only have to die once ... it’s so boring.” If true, this would be wholly consistent with his way of passing each milestone in his life with humor and a peculiar, distant perspective — as if he were on a life-long adventure.

Feynman was a renowned physicist, a Nobel prize winner and he served on important congressional commissions, yet he looked at life through the eyes of a child. He traveled the world, learned new languages and cultures, learned to play musical instruments, learned to paint (especially favoring nude women) and entered every relationship with a sincere interest in learning something new.

For me, this book was a reminder not to take life too seriously, and not to worry what others think. I was referred to this book by my son. I have no idea how he heard about it, but I’m glad he did.

Today, with increasing focus on the importance of science in our society, Feynman’s humorous, self-deprecating “scientific perspective” offers us a way forward.

Did I mention this book is very funny? At many points, I found myself laughing out loud. Feynman’s distain for social science, his frustration with bureaucracy and his love of women are recurring themes that are the source of much of Feynman’s (occasionally politically incorrect) humor.

Highly recommended! ... especially for a young person interested in science and living a full, meaningful life.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dan Dreifort

Endlessly diverting, informative, and funny.

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2018

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Richard Feynman is the exact brand of aloof, irreverent, genius that the world needs, at any and every time.

This casual telling of myriad anecdotes from Feynman's life is precious and airy, even when dealing with early nuclear secrets, death, and other heavy topics.

If you're not sold on buying this book, be sure to watch several of the popular Richard Feynman videos on YouTube. This book is better than any of them. Enjoy.

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Aaradhya Dixit

one of the best books i have ever read..Comic+Scientific+Inspiring.. A must have..

Reviewed in India on October 7, 2017

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Comical and scientific..Feynmann was great..Fun reading this one..inspiring too on how to develop scientific thinking..Must for a science explorer..I have read biographies of many scientists and I found none’s life as interesting as his..please give this book a read..This is the first book I read on Feynman and I am a big fan now and ordered 3 more books on him..every page will make you more excited..

76 people found this helpful

A. Callado

The incredible life of Feynman might teach you how to build self-esteem and to think out of the box

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2017

Verified Purchase

My best reading of 2016. Brilliant book, funny and full of learnings.
I'm no native English speaker and I had no problems following it.
I would recommend it to anyone interested (even slightly) in science, but as well to anyone who feels that he/she has to say something in this world.

A beautiful history of a man who always lived his life as he wanted and did it brilliantly!

20 people found this helpful

MARUKURTHI SAI

If you want to live your life completely then you should read this.

Reviewed in India on August 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

What a curious character who tried everything in life from education to enjoyment. I have still been wondering about how he had managed his time to do all these things like enjoying with girls, Ph.D., painting, participating in the music band, working in Army, Doing projects.
Now I am experimenting with my life everywhere.

39 people found this helpful

Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera

Only fairly interesting - if that

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

Recent editions of this book come with an imprint from Bill Gates himself praising this book for its wit and fun. Equally, it has also appeared in some (not a lot) lists of the "best books on popular science" and such.
Not to these eyes.
The text is a collection (I insist: an accumulation, not a connected set of essays) written by the late Dr Feynman, roughly along his life. These are more - mere - anecdotes, yet not experiences. It starts when the author is a child and from there the anecdotes carry on through an adolescence, youth, maturity, manhood and professional success.
But the problem is what I mentioned above: these are loose things that happened to the man, some funny-ish, some mildly interesting, almost all plainly forgettable. I couldn't mention one either remarkable or memorable. The reader, half way into each of the chapters, expects a bomb that does not happen. So in the end (if you manage to get there) the result is quite disappointing.
It is a fact that Dr Feynman was a very intelligent man; he was not a very good writer.

One person found this helpful

Dr Nick

Very funny, insightful, and a great read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

I love this book. Constructed from a series of interviews, it covers Richard Feynman's life from childhood to probably the late 1970's.
Clearly it's from his point of view, and only covers areas he felt like discussing, so there's very little about his marriage (although there is another book which has more detail on that), and nothing about the Challenger disaster (again, another book).
But the anecdotes are interesting, some are hilarious, and I've managed to get my son to read and enjoy this as well. His time with the Manhattan Project is a particular source of amusement, and his move to Brazil is another rich fountain of anecdotes.
The Big Bang Theory has probably brought his name to the attention of another generation of people.
You've probably got at least 2 series' worth of material in this book.

10 people found this helpful

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