Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track; The Letters of Richard P. Feynman

xxiv, 486 pages. Illustrations. Appendix I through VI. Index. Foreword by Timothy Ferris. Black mark on bottom edge. The dust jacket has slight wear and soiling. Richard Phillips "Dick" Feynman, ForMemRS (May 11, 1918 - February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model. Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 jointly with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichir Tomonaga. Feynman developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions describing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. Feynman was a keen physics popularizer through books and lectures, including a talk on top-down nanotechnology, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" (1959) and his undergraduate lectures, The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1961-1964). He delivered lectures for lay audiences, recorded in The Character of Physical Law (1965) and QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985). Feynman became known through Ralph Leighton's collections of his anecdotes, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (1985) and What Do You Care What Other People Think? (1988). Leighton covered his dream of traveling to Tannu Tuva in Tuva or Bust! He is the subject of several biographies, starting with Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick. One of the towering figures of twentieth-century science, Richard Feynman possessed a curiosity that was the stuff of legend. His unorthodox and spellbinding lectures on physics secured his reputation amongst students and seekers around the world. It was his outsized love for life, however, that earned him the status of an American cultural icon-here was an extraordinary intellect devoted to the proposition that the thrill of discovery was matched only by the joy of communicating it to others. In this career-spanning collection of letters, many published here for the first time, we are able to see this side of Feynman like never before. Beginning with a short note home in his first days as a graduate student, and ending with a letter to a stranger seeking his advice decades later, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations covers a dazzling array of topics and themes, scientific developments and personal histories. With missives to and from scientific luminaries, as well as letters to and from fans, family, students, as well as everyday people eager for Feynman's wisdom and counsel, the result is a wonderful de facto guide to life, and eloquent testimony to the quest for knowledge at all levels. Feynman once mused that people are entertained' enormously by being allowed to understand a little bit of something they never understood before. As edited and annotated by his daughter, Michelle, these letters not only allow us to better grasp the how and why of Feynman's enduring appeal, but also to see the virtues of an inquiring eye in spectacular fashion. Whether discussing the Manhattan Project or developments in quantum physics, the Challenger investigation or grade-school textbooks, the love of his wife or the best way to approach a problem, his dedication to clarity, grace, humor, and optimism is evident. Richard Feynman possessed a curiosity that was the stuff of legend. This collection covers a dazzling array of topics and themes, scientific developments and personal histories. With missives to and from scientific luminaries, as well as letters to and from fans, family, students, crackpots, as well as everyday people eager for Feynman's wisdom and counsel, the result is a de facto guide to life, and eloquent testimony to the human quest for knowledge at all levels. Derived from a Kirkus review: Just when you thought the fount of Feymaniana had run dry comes this splendid collection of letters a.…