FuschiaReads.

....and sometimes watches.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Surely you’re joking Mr Feynman

Richard P. Feynman Unwin Hyman Ltd 1986 PB 350pp

“When I was about eleven or twelve I set up a lab in my house.”

This wonderful book consists of a series of anecdotes either gathered especially or adapted from speeches or publications. They are very candid and funny and interesting and I have to say this man blows my mind.

I would love to be so clever that physics makes sense to me. It is something that I have always been interested in and all the ongoing quantum research is just amazing. I however have this brain – self fulfilling prophecy type brain or no – that switches off when things get ‘technical’ – it’s a physical feeling like falling asleep or getting really cold - I can feel my eyes glaze over and my brain get mooshy and even tho’ I am really interested, I don’t understand anything else other than the introductory paragraph – the one in bold type – in any New Scientist magazine.

This combined with a lack of memory for detail – oh yes I can tell you what you were wearing 4 halloweens back and I never get lost driving, but give me a really cool article about anything and it’s like “ um there’s like this percentage um 25% or 50% but its like really high and that’s how many protons spin off when you do this thing – and they only thought that it would be like um this really low number maybe even zero in number – and they thought in a different direction – maybe left - , but that was based on an incorrect experiment done by someone – I think he was European – and no-one checked that data – isn’t that cool!”
You get the idea…..

So, you will understand that reading this book for me was quite an experience. One moment its picking up airhostess’s in Brazil and the next it’s something to do with tau’s and co-sines and I feeling like one of those movies when they hit g-force-mach-8-i-canna-hold-it-cap’in and all the skin on my face is flying back and my eyes have gone all bulgy and funky hyperspace stars are flying in front of my eyes.

He worked at Los Alamos, he learnt Japanese and Portuguese and the drums and how to draw and to crack safes and had many girlfriends (some great pickup tips for you boys!), and won a nobel prize and basically spent his entire life learning and learning and never accepting any limits for himself. He writes with such a deprecating sense of humour and comes across as such an approachable cool guy.

This book cost me 10c at a local op-shop and I think you should all read it! When I am was God-Empress it will be mandatory – so go get a copy and avoid the rush.

- posted by FuschiaReads @ 9:27 AM