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Loading... The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 1: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat (1963)by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Like most others who get a chance to know about him, I adore what was Richard Feynman and find him a source of continual inspiration. I study physics at university, and I've given this book a try. It gives clear access to his mind, and I have taken away countless gems that have built up concepts in my mind. I've struggled with it's nature though - I've tried to appraoch it like any other textbook, and found it just doesn't work like that. It's not for systematic study. Instead, I dip into it and read a chapter now and then when it's relevent and can add to current study - more for motivation and inspiration than anything. no reviews | add a review
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T[hese] books [are] based upon a course of lectures in introductory physics given by Prof. R.P. Feynman at the California Institute of Technology during the academic year 1961-1962; it covers the first year of the two year introductory course taken by all Caltech freshmen and sophormores, and was followed in 1962-63 by a similar series covering the second year. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)530Natural sciences and mathematics Physics PhysicsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Feynman is eminently quotable. A sampling:
[on actually measuring positions of planets and how they moved]
This was a tremendous idea—that to find something out, it is better to perform some careful experiments than to carry on deep philosophical arguments.
{This is the idea. Philosphers tend to ask questions with no answers (although some of them think they come up with answers). Science looks for answers to real questions.}
[Universal gravitation]
This phenomenon showed that light does not travel instantaneously, and furnished the first estimate of the speed of light. This was done in 1676.
[on precision of definition]
Perhaps you say, “That’s a terrible thing—I learned that in science we have to define everything precisely.” We cannot define anything precisely! If we attempt to, we get into that paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers, who sit opposite each other, one saying to the other, “You don’t know what you are talking about!” The second one says, “What do you mean by know? What do you mean by talking? What do you mean by you?,” and so on.
{Love it!}
[more on philosophers]
...what is an object? Philosophers are always saying, “Well, just take a chair for example.” The moment they say that, you know that they do not know what they are talking about any more. What is a chair? Well, a chair is a certain thing over there … certain?, how certain? ”
{45 years I've been saying they don't know what they are talking about...}
[on relativity]
Poincaré made the following statement of the principle of relativity: “According to the principle of relativity, the laws of physical phenomena must be the same for a fixed observer as for an observer who has a uniform motion of translation relative to him, so that we have not, nor can we possibly have, any means of discerning whether or not we are carried along in such a motion.”
[on cocktail party philosophers]
When this idea descended upon the world, it caused a great stir among philosophers, particularly the “cocktail-party philosophers,” who say, “Oh, it is very simple: Einstein’s theory says all is relative!” In fact, a surprisingly large number of philosophers, not only those found at cocktail parties (but rather than embarrass them, we shall just call them “cocktail-party philosophers”), will say, “That all is relative is a consequence of Einstein, and it has profound influences on our ideas.””
[on notation]
We could, of course, use any notation we want; do not laugh at notations; invent them, they are powerful. In fact, mathematics is, to a large extent, invention of better notations. ( )