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Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
 
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Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character (Paperback)

by Ralph Leighton (Author), Richard P. Feynman (Author), Edward Hutchings (Editor)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
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Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character + What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character + Six Easy Pieces: Fundamentals of Physics Explained (Penguin Press Science)
Price For All Three: £20.67

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; First Vintage edition edition (7 Jun 1992)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 009917331X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099173311
  • Product Dimensions: 19.9 x 13.1 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,413 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Biography > Science, Mathematics & Technology > Science
    #3 in  Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Physics
    #3 in  Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical > Physics

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
A series of anecdotes, such as are included in Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman, 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 this engagingly eccentric book. 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, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985, simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realise 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 vigour and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith

Product Description
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, Richard Feynman was one of the world's greatest theoretical physicists, but he was also a man who fell, often jumped, into adventure. An artist, safecracker, practical joker and storyteller, Feynman's life was a series of combustoble combinations made possible by his unique mixture of high intelligence, unquenchable curiosity and eternal scepticism. Over a period of years, Feynman's conversations with his friend Ralph Leighton were first taped and then set down as they appear here, little changed from their spoken form, giving a wise, funny, passionate and totally honest self-portrait of one of the greatest men of our age.

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Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
83% buy the item featured on this page:
Surely You're Joking, Mr.Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character 4.6 out of 5 stars (32)
£6.99
Six Easy Pieces: Fundamentals of Physics Explained (Penguin Press Science)
8% buy
Six Easy Pieces: Fundamentals of Physics Explained (Penguin Press Science) 4.6 out of 5 stars (16)
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QED - The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Penguin Press Science)
4% buy
QED - The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Penguin Press Science) 4.5 out of 5 stars (11)
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Bad Science
3% buy
Bad Science 4.6 out of 5 stars (143)

 

Customer Reviews

32 Reviews
5 star:
 (24)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (32 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, 18 Jan 2005
By J. E. Davidson (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Richard Feynman was a great physicist, a truly original thinker and for many years a hero of mine.

This book is basically a collection of anecdotes about his life and his worldview. No scientific background is required to enjoy this book - it is fantastic - unremittingly entertaining and informative - accessible to all.

The stories cover, amongst other things: his childhood, his time at Los Alamos working on the atomic bomb (including his safe breaking escapades), failing his medical with the US Army for psychiatric reasons (you will never put your hands out in the same way again), learning Portuguese (and his reasons for selecting Portuguese over Spanish), learning to paint, learning the bongo drums and his general intolerance of stupidity.

Overall it is a fantastic and easy read - it is almost impossible not to enjoy this book

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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars How can a book this rewarding be so easy to read...?, 2 Mar 2003
By Andrew Kerr "Alabony" (Dunfermline, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
I'm delighted to see how many other reviews there are for this fantastic book. For so long, I thought I was one of the few who'd discovered this book, but it seems not. And that's a Good Thing, because I think EVERYONE should read this book.

Yes, Richard Feynman possessed an incredible mind. Yes, he was a brilliant theoretical physicist. But more important than any of that was his lust for life, and thirst for knowledge. And it didn't matter to him what he learned - whether it was safecracking, playing bongo drums, mixing paints, or how to sleep with women!

This book is just Feynman's recollections, as dictated to the author. As a consequence, it's ridiculously easy to read - no highbrow theory or dull prose here.

If you have an ounce of curiosity in your body, buy this book. You will learn a great deal about science, and be fascinated by Feynman's stories. You'll also learn quite a lot about Feynman (and he was a thoroughly entertaining guy!), and most of all, you'll be infected with Feynman's own lust for life and thirst for knowledge.

When you finish it, you'll be sad that you never met this amazing man when he was alive. But console yourself in the knowledge that there's a lot more of Richard Feynman for you to discover in his other books.

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Surely an awesome read, 23 April 2006
By D. Bower "dannybgoode" (Sheffield) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I love this book. I have read it many times and have also given it as a gift to a number of people all who have enjoyed it. To think that it is written by one of the greatest physicists of all time makes it all the more surprising. If there is one person who I would like to go back in time to meet it would be Mr Feynman.

The guy was a genius but also completely down to earth. If you read this book and go away with the impression that he was immodest and big headed like other reviewers felt I would be surprised. This is a man who felt embarressed by winning the Nobel prize, a guy who hated giving lectures at prestigous societies but would never give up a chance to lecture at a high school physics class, who went to Rio to join a Salsa band and march in the carnival, who spent much of his time as Las Alamos annoying the censors and learing how to crack safes. - A curious charater indeed.

All in all if you are interested either a) in physics, b) in interesting people or both read this book. If you want a more in depth but less personal view of Mr Feynman then read James Gleik's Genius.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The uncoventional thinker at his best!
Feynman is probably the best mind after Einstein,and he is anything but a conventional physicist.From cracking safes to fixing radios, this book is a fascinating read. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Sayan Bakshi

5.0 out of 5 stars Like the Essays of Montaigne - Wit, Wisdom and Vitality
I'm a big fun of Charlie Munger's writings and he put me in the direction of this book. It's deceptively simple. You start reading and think these are twee stories well told. Read more
Published 8 months ago by William Cohen

5.0 out of 5 stars 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. Read more
Published 10 months ago by C. Clayton

1.0 out of 5 stars I just don't understand
I just don't understand why this book recieves such good reviews? I found it a boring read - the type of stories that boring people try to regale you with whilst stuck on a train... Read more
Published 11 months ago by R. Lowther

5.0 out of 5 stars hilarious and bizarre anecdotes
hilarious annotation of improbably bizarre but somehow believable happenings in the life of this extraordinary man. Read more
Published 11 months ago by phil mars

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr Feynman, you are awful...but I like you!
What an interesting book! Richard Feynman was an acknowledged genius and this is not an autobiography in the normal sense. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jack Victor

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity and Class
Reading this book is like suddenly being best friends with one of the most talented and inspiring personalities of the last century. Read more
Published 19 months ago by M. Nair

5.0 out of 5 stars Get curious about this
This book is a collection of anecdotes by Richard P. Feynman who was a Theoretical Physicist famous for winning the Nobel prize and his earlier work on the Manhattan project... Read more
Published 20 months ago by D. Nelson

5.0 out of 5 stars This was the book that made me really understand what the word 'genius' actually means
I read about Richard Feynman in an obituary in a newspaper back in 1988. Fascinated I bought this book, which turned out to be one of the best (if not the best) autobiographies... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Steve Mitchener

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, inspirational and very funny!
There can be no argument that Richard P Feynman was a genius. He has been a hero of mine since I was very young, probably because my father also greatly admires him and spoke to... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Lance Mitchell

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