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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.0924
EAN: 9780393316049
ISBN: 0393316041
Label: W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 350
Publication Date: 1997-04
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Studio: W. W. Norton & Company
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Editorial 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
The outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original. In this phenomenal national bestseller, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman recounts in his inimitable voice his adventures trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums and much else of an eyebrow-raising and hilarious nature. A New York Times bestseller; more than 500,000 copies sold.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A curoius book about a curious character
This book is not a biography of Richard Feynman, a physicist who won a Nobel Prize for the development of quantum electrodynamics. But it is collection of stories of some of his adventures, thus the book's subtitle "Adventures of a curious character." The vignettes of Feynman's life range from his earliest days fixing radios to his career as a professor. Some stories just defy categorization but give a certain texture to Feynman's life. The stories were very well written and somewhat amusing.
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Rating:  - Breezy and informative read for any scientist!
The reviews here claim that Feynman was an egotist and it stained the reading of this book. However, I disagree completely. Feynman never claims to be self-deprecating or modest. In fact, I appreciate his candidness!
I was afraid to read this book because it was recommended to me by a Physics graduate student, and because I am not one to enjoy nonfictions. However, this book reads like a novel. Each chapter is another story or era of Feynman's life. It's like an excited little kid talking ... Read More
Rating:  - What an egotist
I read this book with the hope of gaining more insight into Dr. Feynman. While it is indisputable that the man was a physics genius and that he was a phenominal help during the Manhattan project, I grew tired of his incessant contempt for anything or anyone that he didn't approve of. Much of the book is spent with him trying to outmatch and outwhit those in fields that he considers inferior to physics, such as pure mathematics and philosophy. It grows tiresome reading this after a while and the book left ... Read More
Rating: - Feynman never got out of his box, because he never had one!
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 ... Read More
Rating: - gift for someone else
this was a gift for a family member. it arrived quickly and in great condition
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