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Richard P. Feynman

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Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman Kindle Edition

by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Michelle Feynman (Editor), Timothy Ferris (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 177 ratings

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"I'm an explorer, OK? I like to find out!" -- One of the towering figures of twentieth-century science, Richard Feynman possessed a curiosity that was the stuff of legend. Even before he won the Nobel Prize in 1965, his unorthodox and spellbinding lectures on physics secured his reputation amongst students and seekers around the world. It was his outsized love for life, however, that earned him the status of an American cultural icon-here was an extraordinary intellect devoted to the proposition that the thrill of discovery was matched only by the joy of communicating it to others. In this career-spanning collection of letters, many published here for the first time, we are able to see this side of Feynman like never before. Beginning with a short note home in his first days as a graduate student, and ending with a letter to a stranger seeking his advice decades later, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track covers a dazzling array of topics and themes, scientific developments and personal histories. With missives to and from scientific luminaries, as well as letters to and from fans, family, students, crackpots, as well as everyday people eager for Feynman's wisdom and counsel, the result is a wonderful de facto guide to life, and eloquent testimony to the human quest for knowledge at all levels. Feynman once mused that "people are entertained' enormously by being allowed to understand a little bit of something they never understood before." As edited and annotated by his daughter, Michelle, these letters not only allow us to better grasp the how and why of Feynman's enduring appeal, but also to see the virtues of an inquiring eye in spectacular fashion. Whether discussing the Manhattan Project or developments in quantum physics, the Challenger investigation or grade-school textbooks, the love of his wife or the best way to approach a problem, his dedication to clarity, grace, humor, and optimism is everywhere evident..

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August 1, 2008
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard P. Feynman was raised in Far Rockaway, New York, and received his Ph.D. from Princeton. He held professorships at both Cornell and the California Institute of Technology. In 1965 he received the Nobel Prize for his work on quantum electrodynamics. He died in 1988. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Since physicist Richard Feynman's death in 1988, his renown has expanded amid a stream of books about him, such as this collection of his letters edited by his daughter. The first batch of letters dates from Feynman's first marriage, a devoted union shortened by his wife's death from tuberculosis one month before the first atomic explosion that Feynman helped unleash, and which he describes in a vivid letter to his mother. Unfortunately, his most productive scientific period, the late 1940s, was sparsely documented, but with his great achievements in quantum mechanics, fame came his way, and the way he accepted the demands of celebrity is the greatest charm of this volume. Whether Feynman fields fan letters, pleas for career advice, cranks' complaints about his scientific errors, or congratulations upon receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1965, an unfeigned humility resonates from his responses; he never wielded his own opinions as authoritative. The Feynman adored by his colleagues and the public--exuberant, irreverent, and intelligent--comes back to life through his own words. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) has become an American scientific icon. He won the Nobel prize for physics in 1965 for his work on quantum electrodynamics; he became a bit of a television star with his shows explaining physical phenomena in readily understandable terms; and he became the hero of the federal committee investigating the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger when he demonstrated how O rings could fail under cold conditions. He was known as brash and iconoclastic, and a fabulous teacher. This collection of letters edited by Feynman's daughter presents brief glimpses into various facets of his personal and professional lives. Covering the years 1939 to 1987, the letters provide some insight into daily life during the Manhattan Project; others offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Challenger investigation. They also show Feynman to be a thoughtful educator, willing to write back to high school students asking for guidance in selecting a career and understanding physics. The energetic if decidedly colloquial prose underscores Feynman's exuberant nature and self-deprecating sense of humor, as well as his self-described "peculiarity" when he tried to resign from the National Academy of Sciences because he found it "psychologically distasteful to judge people's 'merit.' " 60 b&w photos. Agent, Melanie Jackson.$125,000 national marketing campaign.(Apr. 12)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Amazon.com Review

Finding out about someone by reading their correspondence is a fundamentally different thing than reading their biography. Letters offer both more intimacy with the subject and at the same time a crucial distance--the exact distance the letter-writer intended from the people to whom he was writing. In Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track, Michelle Feynman collects her famous father's letters to reveal a warm, honest man with high expectations for himself, his loved ones, and the human race. Long before Richard Feynman won the Nobel Prize, he was a smart, skinny graduate student at Princeton, writing letters to his mother and relating the mundane details of college life. "Dear Mom.... The raincoat came O.K. It is very nice," he writes. By the time he finished his Ph.D., Feynman had fallen for Arline Greenbaum, who had already been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Their tragically short marriage is set in letters against Feynman's first job--working on the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Even while working on top secret physics, Feynman was an enthusiastic correspondent, jumping eagerly at the chance to encourage a young scientist, correct a public misperception, or tell a goofy joke to his family. Self-effacing, charmingly down to earth, and occasionally cranky, these letters cover Feynman's entire career, although in the fits and starts one would expect from a collection such as this. His own words to students, spouses, daughters, and fellow scientists reveal Feynman's brilliance far more effectively than any biographical lens ever could. --Therese Littleton

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Perfectly Reasonable Deviations is a must-read for admirers of the celebrated physicist. The Manhattan Project-era letters are understandably sparse in their scientific content (thanks to wartime censors) and focus mainly on his terminally ill first wife. These letters suggest how Feynman masked his pain with his jokester image. (He makes no mention of his brief, unsuccessful second marriage.) The letters are mostly non-technical and are readily accessible to anyone with even a passing interest in physics, although casual readers might find them occasionally obscure. This collection will allow readers to enter Feynmans brilliant, very human mind.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Scientific American

This book is more than the sum of its parts, which is to say, much more than a collection of letters. It provides a trajectory of Feynman's life: poignant letters to his first wife, Arline, who died of tuberculosis shortly after they were married; funny, high-spirited letters to Gweneth, whom he married after he was already fairly well known; letters regarding his 1965 Nobel Prize, his resignation from the National Academy of Sciences, his advice to the California State Curriculum Committee. And it conveys a genuine sense of the man--someone who took his principles very seriously but never himself. "He showed us all how to look at the world. He showed me how to laugh," writes his daughter, Michelle, in the introduction. Throughout she furnishes exactly the right amount of context, in an unself-conscious style that, one imagines, would have pleased her father. She is probably responsible, too, for the inclusion of some wonderful candid photographs.

Editors of Scientific American

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007ZDDDO0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (August 1, 2008)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 6164 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 513 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #773,004 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #381 in Letters & Correspondence
- #519 in Biographies of Scientists
- #712 in Literary Letters

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4.5 177 ratings

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Richard P. Feynman

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Richard P. Feynman was born in 1918 and grew up in Far Rockaway, New York. At the age of seventeen he entered MIT and in 1939 went to Princeton, then to Los Alamos, where he joined in the effort to build the atomic bomb. Following World War II he joined the physics faculty at Cornell, then went on to Caltech in 1951, where he taught until his death in 1988. He shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965, and served with distinction on the Shuttle Commission in 1986. A commemorative stamp in his name was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2005.

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Lee London

If youre a Feynman fan you must get this book!

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2010

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Im from the Uk and firstly I'd like to say thank you to Michelle Feynman (Richard Feynmans Daughter) for putting this book together. My interest in Feynman began at age of about 8 or 9 I think when I saw this extraordinary man on a BBC TV documentary program, I'm from the UK. Something about the voice and facial expressions, he just looked interesting, happy and fun. What I didnt realise was how unique a person he was, i just thought all scientists were like that!! Anyhow many many years passed (well 10) and i ended up doing a physics degree (nothing directly to do with Feynman just a coincedence, i had completely forgotten about the TV program), i started reading about famous physicists and Feynman just stuck out to me as an special. Richard Feynman born in Far Rockaway New York, (a fineman from a far rock away, conspiracy theorist know yourselves out!) So I read a few more books about him eg. 'surely your joking...', 'pleasure of finging things out...' etc. amd then in about 1993 i saw that bbc program and it all came back, this was (one of) the guy that got me so interested in science, and I now science has got me all interested in him!. I think seeing Feynman did have an affect on me through that TV program, i think it really did! I'm of ordinary intelligence and dont have extraordinary thinking or imaginative powers, but i can appreciare those that do, and I'm sure if he inspired me he has inpired others and those others HAVE gone on to do great things.

I love this book, it really lets you get another glimpse at one of the most honest, kind, original and fundamentally decent human thinkers to walk around on out little planet, thank you so much...

One person found this helpful

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Daniel Myers

Refresher Course!

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2005

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Almost everything written by and about Feynman is refreshing, like a breath of mountain air, or, more often than not, a much-needed slap on the face. These letters are no exception. Much of this effect is a result of his take-no-prisoners attitude when it comes to purveyors of intellectual hokum-In particular, his insistence that what one is working on be falsifiable. In other words, if what you're working on is not testable or not at least foreseeably testable to see if you are correct or incorrect, then what you are doing is not science, it is philosophy, and rather bad philosophy at that.

These sort of refreshing reminders are particularly important today when "string theory" is all the rage, as popularised by Brian Greene et al, a theory which, even Greene admits, will probably not be testable in your or my lifetime.-Feynman, terse as always in such matters, expresses his opinion about string theory in one of these letters---"I don't believe in it." It is ironic that Greene cites Feynman so often in his books.

But String theory aside, Feynman enthusiasts will find perhaps a wider, more three-dimensional perspective in these letters than in other books.---They will find, in his letters to friends students admirers etc., wonder of wonders - a wise, articulate man.

13 people found this helpful

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John F. Ellingson

Feynman is humanity at its finest

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2021

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I’ve read all of Feynman’s books. I’m now approaching my 80th birthday and with a small team was awarded a small research and development contract at Los Alamos. One of my college roommates was a student at Cal Tech for the original Feynman lectures. Reading this collection of letters brings the man to life. I can’t recommend this volume too strongly. It provides insight into the person of Richard Feynman and makes you wish it were possible to share an hour or two with him observing the beauty of nature. This book is as close as any of us will get.

3 people found this helpful

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A. KIM

Feynman the person

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2015

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Feynman letters. A great insight into Feynman and especially his passion for teaching. He is the teacher that you wish you had.

One person found this helpful

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Javier Vizoso

Perfectly reasonable MOTIVATION!

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2005

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With this new book collecting Richard Feynman's correspondence, you won't only better know about a Nobel laureate physicist, but you will be able to appreciate the deepest insight, knowledge and inspiration of an honest man. From his first beloved wife or the Manhattan project to motivation and good understanding of Physics. I have loved Feynman since I first read one of R. Leighton books when I was a teenager, he inspired and encouraged me a lot and since I had a great interest in Science I eventually fell in love with Physics, which I'm studying know, thanks to him. Besides, his wise guide helped me out to understand life better and cope with difficulties, mostly tackling problems à-la Feynman. This book is worth reading and it's quite big with hardcover so the price is quite great!

Everybody interested in Feynman biography and character cannot miss this chance to meet him at his most personal book for which we all should thank his daughter Michelle Feynman. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR MAKING THE WORLD WISER ABOUT A GREAT SCIENTIST AND HUMAN BEING.

22 people found this helpful

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Ray Walker

Richard Feynman, genius & very decent man.

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2013

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For fans of Feynman this will be a rewarding read; the human side of a unique genius. The book is a compilation of the many letters between Feynman and not only his peers but letters he got from young people in high school and others from the general public. It begins with his early marriage to his first wife that died from TB while he was working at Los Alamos on the first Atomic Bomb, a very sad and very human story we can all relate to. So from the early 1940's up through his illness and death in 1988 we get a marvelous story of a very decent man who had a serious love for life and humanity.

This is a book I will read again. We lost a very unique mind and soul in 1988, way too early, in my opinion.

4 people found this helpful

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C.W. Estes

Excellent collection of physicist Richard Feynman's letters.

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2023

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Feynman's daughter, Michelle, did a good job of choosing letters for this collection. There are so many! And they show a man who always tried to be kind and truly listen to the people who wrote to him. Book needs a new edition, with more ink and larger print, though.

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2019

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A delightful insight: a wonderful tribute to an extraordinary man and a just plain terrific human being. I was surprised to find how easily the reading went. At the end of the day it was a refreshing and rejuvenating read, and I found myself often laughing out loud. Don't miss it; you will feel better for this insight into genius and humor and humanity.

7 people found this helpful

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Lynda

Great product.

Reviewed in Canada on August 29, 2020

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Great product, exactly as described, packed well shipped lightening fast and arrived safely; Thank you!!!

desham

Printing quality is also not so good.

Reviewed in India on February 2, 2017

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Letters should have been given in an order under some sub headings. Each letter should have started in a new page with prior introduction. Printing quality is also not so good.

Gilbert Fernandes

Excellent

Reviewed in France on July 10, 2013

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Le génie de Feynman transparaît clairement une fois de plus dans ces lettres. Un physicien particulièrement intéressant par ses passions, mais aussi sa grande curiosité, une source de motivation personnelle conséquente. Sa manière claire, et simple, d'aborder les sujets, même complexe; cette capacité à mettre le doigt sur le coeur des choses, et d'en partir pour développer ses idées. Bien que mon physicien préféré soit Dirac, Feyman occupe sans conteste la seconde place.

Ces lettres ont été choisies par sa fille, Michelle, et bien que cet ouvrage soit publié après plusieurs livres sur Feyman, c'est celui que je recommande de lire en premier, puisque formant la biographie la plus fidèle à l'homme qu'il était. Sa lettre sur le projet Manhattan est fascinante.

Une contenu conséquent puisque le livre contient pas loin de 500 pages. On sourit tout du long, très souvent surpris par les réponses de Feynman qui n'hésite pas à envoyer ballader les gens quand il le faut. On imagine sans peine sans sourire amusé, presque carnassier, dans certaines réponses. Ce livre est un véritable trésor. Rempli d'humour.

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M. Woodman

Perfectly wonderful assemblages (from forgotten files)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2012

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A delightful book whose 460 pages are so readable as to be all to quickly turned but so enjoyable that they will surely be revisited. The letters published here are immensely varied: at times awfully sad, at others filled with joy; some funny enough to raise an out-loud laugh, others plain and businesslike. Taken in all, they confound the perception of Feynman as a bit of a joker who was not a keen letter writer - though he could sometimes be slow to reply.

Michelle Feynman, his daughter, has done an excellent job of collating the letters, and some other papers, within significant time frames and of providing context with the briefest possible explanatory notes.

The title refers to Feynman's views on teaching methods for high school students, as exemplified in his disagreement with Michelle's teacher over the acceptability and merits of said child's occasionally inventive approach to algebra problems. It does also encapsulate perfectly the man's creative and inquisitive persistence, no matter what the task in hand: persistence so productive when directed at academic enquiry, so inspiring in the lecture room, but so baffling when let loose within the realms of political or administrative convention.

The most enjoyable thing about reading these letters is the sheer niceness that they convey, to friends or family, of course, but also (and especially) when replying to letters from people he had never met: people uncertain of their capabilities, ambitions or understanding. That a man of such genius could take time to write long responses to questions from a child, a struggling teacher, even an outright crank, is a cause of fresh amazement every time it happens.

It shouldn't be, of course. That compulsion to provide real understanding was the bedrock motivation of his lectures, his books, his devoted advisory work on education. As with the formal lectures, these brief notes on problems composed for individual correspondents always take a fresh look at some aspect of the subject. (Well, they certainly made me think, anyway.)

Do read this book of Feynman's letters if you have liked any of his other works, whether his lectures or lighter stories.

For a much better review than mine, one written by a physicist who knew and loved the man 'this side idolatry', read chapter 23 of Freeman Dyson's "The Scientist As Rebel", another superb book.

11 people found this helpful

豊田晶子

ノーベル賞受賞者の書簡集

Reviewed in Japan on December 23, 2013

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以前からとてもお見たかった本です！しかも初版物のハードカバーでした！とても綺麗で、飛行機に乗って私の手元に届きました！

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Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman Kindle Edition

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