"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character: Adventures of a Curious Character

Richard P. Feynman

W. W. Norton & Company, Jun 28, 2010 - Biography & Autobiography - 352 pages

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.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - paroof - LibraryThing

Probably the best memoir/or collection of personal stories I've ever read. I enjoyed it so much more than I expected I would. Did the stories make me cringe sometimes? Yes. But it wasn't arrogance ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - elenchus - LibraryThing

I viewed Surely You're Joking, My Feynman! as a companion to Six Easy Pieces (a perennial TBR), and chose to read it beforehand: this decision was more productive than anticipated. I've long been ...

Contents

• He Fixes Radios by Thinking: 15
• String Beans: 25
• Latin or Italian? 42 Contents: 45
• The Chief Research Chemist of: 53
• THE PRINCETON YEARS 59 Part 2: 59
• Meeeeeeeeeee: 66
• Monster Minds: 77
• A Different Box of Tools: 84
• The Amateur Scientist: 91
• MILITARY Part 3 99 Part: 101
• Los Alamos from Below: 107
• Safecracker Meets Safecracker: 137
• Uncle Sam Doesnt Need You: 156
• FROM CORNELL TO CALTECH: 165
• Any Questions?: 175
• You Just Ask Them?: 184
• Lucky Numbers: 192
• O Americano Outra Vez: 199
• Man of a Thousand Tongues: 220
• An Offer You Must Refuse: 232
• Percent Solution: 247
• Thirteen Times: 256
• Is Electricity Fire?: 279
• Judging Books by Their Covers: 288
• Alfred Nobels Other Mistake: 303
• Bringing Culture to the Physicists: 313
• Altered States: 330
• Cargo Cult Science: 338
• Index: 347

About the author

Richard P. Feynman (1918–1988) was a professor at Cornell University and CalTech and received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965. In 1986 he served with distinction on the Rogers Commission investigating the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

Ralph Leighton lives in northern California.

Bibliographic information

• Title: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character: Adventures of a Curious Character
• Author: Richard P. Feynman
• Editor: Ralph Leighton
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010
• ISBN: 0393339858, 9780393339857
• Length: 352 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Science & Technology; Science / Physics / General