Popular Science Review - Surely You Are Joking, Mr Feynman

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Review - Surely You Are Joking, Mr Feynman - Richard Feynman

As far as the general public is concerned there is no doubt who was the greatest physicist of the 20th century - Albert Einstein. Ask a physicist, though, and Einstein will only just scrape in there ahead of Richard Feynman.

Feynman was both a superb scientist and a great storyteller. This lovely book, subtitled 'adventures of a curious character' is edited down from taped conversations with fellow scientist and friend, Ralph Leighton.

It's a sort of informal autobiography, in that it runs through Feynman's life, but it consists of series of anecdotes, often very funny, of things that happened to this remarkable man.

And they certainly did happen. During the Second World War, for instance, Feynman was working on the project to develop the atomic bomb. Feynman made significant contributions, but his stories are mostly about safe-breaking and lock picking. He was very suspicious of the security regime, which said that everything should be locked away, but then provided inadequate secure filing cabinets, so in his spare time, Feynman set about breaking into as many cabinets as he could.

This, and many other reminiscences make this a superb read whether or not you have an interest in science.

Also in hardback: Also in audio:

Reviewed by Brian Clegg

See more about the author in the Richard Feynman biography

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