Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5689 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 350 pages

Amazon.com
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

Time
"...It goes off in all directions, producing both heat and light."

Science Digest
Buzzing with energy, anecdote and life. It almost makes you want to become a physicist.

Customer Reviews

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 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

gift for someone else
this was a gift for a family member. it arrived quickly and in great condition

Doesn't live up to his own hype
Although Mr. Feynman is undoubtedly a smart man, with many things to credit to his name, this book seemed like nothing but his attempt to show how smart he was and is. However he comes off as extremely arrogant and pompous, the problem being that his anecdotes are ruined by his comments on how stupid others are compared to himself. Almost every other paragraph is a story in which he felt he outsmarted someone, but in reality, his accomplishments seem very exaggerated and insignificant. The way he talks about not being considered a sissy by struggling against his frat brothers, outsmarted the waitress with dumb puzzles, and outwitted his frat when stealing a door are NOT impressive in the least, and I feel that a average person could accomplish the same things. The fact that he writes about it in a manner so that he tries to make himself some child genius is what ruins the book and makes him seem stupider rather than smarter. I'm sorry Mr. Feynman, you may be a great physicist, but you must be joking if you think you're a writer, and a clever one at that. I may not be able to solve physics problems like you, but I can assure you...I am much more clever if compared to your life stories (and that's not saying much).