Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character |
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Author:
Ralph Leighton, Richard P. Feynman
By Vintage
Average Customer Rating: 
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £4.20
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Amazon.co.uk Review
A series of anecdotes, such as are included in Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman, 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 this engagingly eccentric book. 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, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985, simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realise 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 vigour and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith
Synopsis
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, Richard Feynman was one of the world's greatest theoretical physicists, but he was also a man who fell, often jumped, into adventure. An artist, safecracker, practical joker and storyteller, Feynman's life was a series of combustoble combinations made possible by his unique mixture of high intelligence, unquenchable curiosity and eternal scepticism. Over a period of years, Feynman's conversations with his friend Ralph Leighton were first taped and then set down as they appear here, little changed from their spoken form, giving a wise, funny, passionate and totally honest self-portrait of one of the greatest men of our age.
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 I just don't understand, 2008-07-31
I just don't understand why this book recieves such good reviews? I found it a boring read - the type of stories that boring people try to regale you with whilst stuck on a train or other public places where escape from their witterings is hard.
 Mr Feynman, you are awful...but I like you!, 2008-01-22
What an interesting book! Richard Feynman was an acknowledged genius and this is not an autobiography in the normal sense. Compiled from a series of interviews set up for the purpose, Feynman's sense of fun and sheer joy of physics, maths and life in general shines through.
He is not shy in taking credit where it is due - he certainly "gets" things really quickly where others struggle - but is also surprisingly honest when describing his relationships for example and is quite happy to acknowledge the efforts made by others. This is an easy book to "dip" into and one can also sit down and devote significant time to it. Not only is this one of the best science books I have read it is one of the best biographies I have read full stop.
I can't help feeling that if you were to happen acros RF in a bar (and that would not be an unusual occurrence) you would find him a pleasant and interesting companion.
hilarious and bizarre anecdotes, 2008-07-31
hilarious annotation of improbably bizarre but somehow believable happenings in the life of this extraordinary man
Feynman never got out of his box, because he never had one!, 2008-08-25
Part physicist, part prankster, part musician, part teacher, part genius, part story teller, part little boy and all human being, this is the true story of Richard Feynman. He was a man with an insatiable curiosity, and had a zest to explore the world of physics, human nature and himself.
The stories in the book are funny, entertaining and enlightening. Feynman never got out of his box, because he never had one. From the gifted young boy who fixed radios by thinking to the top notch physicist who could explain concepts to laymen like no one else, Feynman was one of a kind.
Well worth the read!
The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide To: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking
Clarity and Class, 2007-12-07
Reading this book is like suddenly being best friends with one of the most talented and inspiring personalities of the last century. The preface points out a very relevant fact--Feynman's remarkable observations and adventures enough to add colour to a hundred lives, and we are only given occasional glimpses of his day job. The depth of his personality and the fluidity of his mind shine through in this book, hopefully to help clear some cobwebs from within our own heads.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780099173311
ISBN: 009917331X
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 1992-06-07
Publisher: Vintage
Studio: Vintage |
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