The Character of Physical Law, with new foreword (The MIT Press) by Richard Feynman (PDF)

Description

An introduction to modern physics and to Richard Feynman at his witty and enthusiastic best, discussing gravitation, irreversibility, symmetry, and the nature of scientific discovery.Richard Feynman was one of the most famous and important physicists of the second half of the twentieth century. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, celebrated for his spirited and engaging lectures, and briefly a star on the evening news for his presence on the commission investigating the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, Feynman is best known for his contributions to the field of quantum electrodynamics. The Character of Physical Law, drawn from Feynman’s famous 1964 series of Messenger Lectures at Cornell, offers an introduction to modern physics—and to Feynman at his witty and enthusiastic best.In this classic book (originally published in 1967), Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features, arguing that the importance of a physical law is not “how clever we are to have found it out” but “how clever nature is to pay attention to it.” He discusses such topics as the interaction of mathematics and physics, the principle of conservation, the puzzle of symmetry, and the process of scientific discovery. A foreword by 2004 Physics Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek updates some of Feynman’s observations—noting, however, “the need for these particular updates enhances rather than detracts from the book.” In The Character of Physical Law, Feynman chose to grapple with issues at the forefront of physics that seemed unresolved, important, and approachable.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author Richard Feynman (1918–1988), awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for work on quantum electrodynamics, was Professor of Theoretical Physics at CalTech. He was the author of QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character, and other books.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Great explanations!

⭐This is yet another book that attempts to convey the essence of physics to common people. After explaining exactly why it can’t be done, arguing that you’ll never get it, Feynman goes right ahead and does it anyway.For each topic, you get a feel for his goal in covering a topic. He explains gravity, yes, to explain gravity, but also because by explaining it he can also convey what essential properties gravity has that other laws have.He also explains the difference between fundamental laws and the consequences of those laws. That the individual laws are reversible, but that probability is responsible for the arrow of time. He spends a lot of time showing the difficult relationship between the basic laws (which are reversible) and the irreversibility of events. Both are characteristics of the physical universe but the latter is not a fundamental law. The latter is a logical outcome of them.So there’s a hierarchy, which goes; fundamental laws like gravity at the ground level, consequences of them like irreversibility and surface tension at one level up, organic chemistry further up, then eventually concepts like tree, frog, man, pain, beauty, good and evil – each at a higher level, but based upon the levels below them, and difficult to fully predict using only the laws of the lower levels. The levels can be extended up and down. Below gravity is the unification theory of everything. Above good and evil are love, politics, etc.And then he asks, of the extremes on this hierarchy, the fundamental laws and the most abstract concepts, which is closest to God? After asking for patience with his religious reference, he spends little time before revealing his belief that the question is flawed. To understand God is to understand how the levels interrelate; how the fundamental laws were “chosen” so that they would lead to the unfolding of all the beautiful complexity that we see around us.Is this what you want to learn? Why else do we read these books than to attempt to gain a bit more insight into the eternal questions. Most authors that tackle the nature of the universe have a theological axe to grind (the need for God or not) and can’t hide it. This book did more on this topic, with fewer pages, while offending me the least because of any theological bias (either way), than anything I’ve read before.

⭐As a practicing physicist, having read and enjoyed Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” and Weinberg’s “Lake Views”, this Richard Feynman lecture series on the “Character of Physical Law” is even more enjoyable. It reaffirms simple truths in science research that are often forgotten in an age of automated analysis, that for example one must dig into the details of an experiment or observation with as little bias as possible to uncover the next aha moment and what is worth pursuing next (in my experience, one always finds something worthwhile if one digs, even if it is just explaining what went wrong) that arriving at the same answer by using different sets of equations (working in energy vs force space is a favorite example of mine) is anything but a waste of time, as different calculational paths lead on to connections to different phenomena. Despite being almost 50 years old, this series of lectures remains fresh (contrasting with books on Information Technology where one can get bored reading about predictions in technology advancement that have come true already 10 years later (for example, Bill Gates’ late 1990’s “Business at the Speed of Thought”).

⭐For a non-scientist, this is difficult to comprehend. Feynman was a wonderful teacher, though, so if you have an ambition to understand more about the fundamentals of science, join me!

⭐This lecture series from Cornell are considered classics. Richard Feynman is “always on,” even if his sometimes folksy 1960s language isn’t.

⭐This is a transcription of Feynman’s famous lectures at Cornell in the early 1950’s. You should know you can easily find the videos on youtube. I can’t really see any benefit to the printed version over the videos, and regret buying this. It does give my coffee table an unmerited bit of intellectual panache.

⭐I’ve been on a bit of a pop-physics bender recently and came across a few Feynman lectures on YouTube. I’ve tried reading a couple of other Feynman books (eg the 6 easy/not-so-easy pieces) and felt disappointed they weren’t the complete series of lectures. This series on the character of physical law is a wonderfully clear description of how physics sat in the 1960s that still feels fresh today. That all of the lectures are present means that complex ideas can be developed properly and delivered over a few chapters. This is a great text for any science nerds who want a genius to clarify for them exactly what it is about science that is so entrancing, from the perspective of physics.

⭐As good as you can get with the exception of seeing the original lectures.This is a transcript.He did not write any lecture, but had notes. He did not like writing.I don’t think a single book with him credited as author was actually written by him, but a transcript or someone quoting his words.And when you hear him tell of all these things you realize this guy truly knows what he is talking about. and the tiny errors he makes in the lecture actually make you realize how Intelligent he is, and how much he loves physics.

⭐I bought this book because I had the impression from reviews that it was accessible and the concepts clearly explained. However, I have found this not to be the case. I imagine it would be different, if you had some prior knowledge of the subject, but I couldn’t recommend this book to anyone whose base line is as low as mine. I have found myself resorting to google for clearer and more precise explanations, which has been helpful.

⭐Many writers have dealt with spacetime, gravitation, uncertainty etc – but Richard Feynman sets the standard with his own phenominal comprehension of all things physics, combined with an amazing ability to communicate difficult concepts and behaviours. He avoids unneccessary analogies, favours plain speaking and is able to get right to the central facts with unrivalled clarity.His reputation as a lecturer was undoubtedly well-deserved, and his own life-long dogged determination to comprehend shines through on every page.I read several chapters several times… it is that good.

⭐If you are a Richard Feynman enthusiast, and have a scientific mind, or an interest in mathematics, then this book is well worth reading.

⭐Clear exposition of difficult ideas. I’d be lying if I said it was an easy read. Feynman eschews analogies (e.g., paired electrons are nothing like two ping pong balls on a spring) as being ultimately unhelpful. It probably should form part of the A level Physics background syllabus because if your are seriously considering taking the subject further you need to understand this material.

⭐I wish I’d read this book before doing my science degree, Feynman presents a clear and extremely useful perspective on the relation between maths and science. Equations are difficult to read though.

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