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

A series of anecdotes 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 his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. 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 simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize 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 vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141684052/RPF_-_Surely_You_re_Joking__Mr._Feynman.pdf

What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character

Roughly half of these 21 short, colloquial essays deal with Feynman's firsthand investigaton of the Challenger space-shuttle disaster. He casts himself in the role of intrepid detective, and the first-person singular pronoun keeps intruding on the worthwhile things he has to say about flight safety and lack of communication within NASA. An appendix offers his chilling technical observations on the shuttle's reliability or lack of it. The remaining pieces are mostly a blur of international conferences, purveying slight anecdotes. But two essays touch genuine depths of feeling: his tribute to his father, who taught him to cultivate a sense of wonder, and his account of his love affair with his first wife (who died). In this posthumous miscellany, theoretical physicist Feynman displays only sporadically the adventurousness that captivated readers of Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141684115/RPF_-_What_do_you_care_what_other_people_think.djvu

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter
Celebrated for his brilliantly quirky insights into the physical world, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman also possessed an extraordinary talent for explaining difficult concepts to the general public. Here Feynman provides a classic and definitive introduction to QED (namely quantum electrodynamics), that part of quantum field theory describing the interactions of light with charged particles. Using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned "Feynman diagrams" instead of advanced mathematics, Feynman clearly and humorously communicates both the substance and spirit of QED to the layperson. A. Zee's new introduction places both Feynman's book and his seminal contribution to QED in historical context and further highlights Feynman's uniquely appealing and illuminating style.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141684047/RPF_-_QED_-_The_Strange_Theory_of_Light_and_Matter.djvu

The Feynman Lectures on Physics
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, by Richard Feynman, Robert Leighton, and Matthew Sands is perhaps Feynman's most accessible technical work, and is considered a classic introduction to modern physics, including lectures on mathematics, electromagnetism, Newtonian physics, quantum physics, and even the relation of physics to other sciences. The three volumes were compiled from material presented in a 2-year introductory physics course given in the early 1960s by Feynman at Caltech. Six readily accessible chapters were later compiled into a book entitled Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher, and six more in Six Not So Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry and Space-Time.

The first volume focuses on mechanics, radiation, and heat. The second volume is mainly on electromagnetism and matter. The third volume, on quantum mechanics, shows, for example, how the double-slit experiment contains the essential features of quantum mechanics.

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Original Audio, Ch 0-24: http://rapidshare.com/files/141671757/RPF-LOP.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141672370/RPF-LOP.part2.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141672929/RPF-LOP.part3.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141669840/RPF-LOP.part4.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141670654/RPF-LOP.part5.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141671008/RPF-LOP.part6.rar Text, Full, Volumes 1-3: http://rapidshare.com/files/141700565/RPF-LOP.rar

Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory

The young Feynman revealed here was full of invention, verve, and ambition. His new approach to quantum mechanics, after simmering for decades beneath the surface of theoretical physics, burst into new prominence in the 1970s. Now its influence is pervasive, and still expanding. Feynman's original presentation is not only uniquely clear, but also contains insights and perspectives that are not widely known, and might well provide ammunition for another explosion or two. --Frank Wilczek, 2004 Physics Nobel Laureate

Historians and physicists alike will enjoy this easy-to-read little book ... The thesis itself is a masterpiece of clear exposition ... it is written in Feynman's uniquely chatty style, and reminiscent of the famous Feynman lectures. It is a delight to read and is likely to offer an insight, even to non-physicists, into both physics and the workings of Feynman's mind. I would not hesitate to recommend the book to anyone working physicists, historians, philosophers and even 'curious fellows' who would like to 'peak over the shoulder' of one of the 20th century's great physicists at work --CERN Courier

The path integral approach is now something that every graduate student in theoretical physics is supposed to know ... the thesis provides a very good background for the way these ideas came about. The two companion articles, although available in print, also gives a complete picture of the development of this line of thinking. The helpful introductory remarks by the editor also puts things in the proper historical perspective. This book would be very helpful to anyone interested in the development of modern ideas in physics --Classical and Quantum Gravity

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141683484/RPF_-_Feynman_s_Thesis_A_New_Approach_to_Quantum_Theory.pdf

Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun
Richard Feynman, the rock star of theoretical physics, has left an image that belies his nerdy side. Not many bongo-playing surfer beatniks would have spent hours of their spare time proving Newton's law of elliptical planetary motion using only plane geometry. But Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun shows that the great man did just that. Originally delivered to an introductory physics class at Caltech in 1963, this 76-minute CD and book set contains everything the math-savvy listener needs to savor the pleasures of applied math. Caltech physicist David L. Goodstein and archivist Judith R. Goodstein found the notes and tape amid another professor's papers and set to work making sense of them; unfortunately, photographs of the blackboard drawings didn't survive. The book briefly covers their find and recovery work, then presents the proof as reconstructed--crucial reading if one is to follow the lecture. There's nothing easy about it, as Feynman acknowledges in the lecture:

I am going to give what I will call an elementary demonstration. "Elementary" means that very little is required to know ahead of time in order to understand it, except to have an infinite amount of intelligence.

He means, instead, that he is strictly using geometrical methods to reach his destination, which explains why it was so difficult to reconstruct without his diagrams. His charming Brooklyn accent and good humor show through in this lecture, even if the material is quite a bit drier than his fans might expect. Still, those interested in adding a new dimension to their understanding of this brilliant scientist--and those with a deep interest in Newtonian physics--will find The Motion of Planets Around the Sun a rare and unexpected treat.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141683501/RPF_-_Feynman_s_Lost_Lecture.pdf

Feynman Lectures on Gravitation
The Feynman Lectures on Gravitation are based on notes prepared during a course on gravitational physics that Richard Feynman taught at Caltech during the 1962-63 academic year. For several years prior to these lectures, Feynman thought long and hard about the fundamental problems in gravitational physics, yet he published very little. These lectures represent a useful record of his viewpoints and some of his insights into gravity and its application to cosmology, superstars, wormholes, and gravitational waves at that particular time. The lectures also contain a number of fascinating digressions and asides on the foundations of physics and other issues.Characteristically, Feynman took an untraditional non-geometric approach to gravitation and general relativity based on the underlying quantum aspects of gravity. Hence, these lectures contain a unique pedagogical account of the development of Einstein�s general theory of relativity as the inevitable result of the demand for a self-consistent theory of a massless spin-2 field (the graviton) coupled to the energy-momentum tensor of matter. This approach also demonstrates the intimate and fundamental connection between gauge invariance and the principle of equivalence.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141684030/RPF_-_Lectures_on_Gravitation.djvu

Feynman Lectures on Computation
When, in 1984�86, Richard P. Feynman gave his famous course on computation at the California Institute of Technology, he asked Tony Hey to adapt his lecture notes into a book. Although led by Feynman, the course also featured, as occasional guest speakers, some of the most brilliant men in science at that time, including Marvin Minsky, Charles Bennett, and John Hopfield. Although the lectures are now thirteen years old, most of the material is timeless and presents a �Feynmanesque� overview of many standard and some not-so-standard topics in computer science such as reversible logic gates and quantum computers.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141684022/RPF_-_Lectures_on_Computation.djvu

Feynman�s Rainbow by Leonard Mlodinow
Feynman�s Rainbow recounts the relationship between Feynman and Mlodinow, an intimidated young physicist who comes to Caltech during Feynman�s last years and makes the elder man his mentor. The memoir gives readers an intimate look at Feynman�s scientific imagination and his rivalry with fellow Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann.

Password: ArmStrong

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141682940/RPF_-_Feynman_s_Rainbow.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141683451/RPF_-_Feynman_s_Rainbow.part2.rar

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist
In this series of lectures originally given in 1963, which remained unpublished during Richard Feynman's lifetime, the Nobel-winning physicist thinks aloud on several "meta"--questions of science. What is the nature of the tension between science and religious faith? Why does uncertainty play such a crucial role in the scientific imagination? Is this really a scientific age?

Marked by Feynman's characteristic combination of rationality and humor, these lectures provide an intimate glimpse at the man behind the legend. "In case you are beginning to believe," he says at the start of his final lecture, "that some of the things I said before are true because I am a scientist and according to the brochure that you get I won some awards and so forth, instead of your looking at the ideas themselves and judging them directly...I will get rid of that tonight. I dedicate this lecture to showing what ridiculous conclusions and rare statements such a man as myself can make." Rare, perhaps. Irreverent, sure. But ridiculous? Not even close.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141681554/RPF_-_The_Meaning_Of_It_All.pdf

Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals
This is a book every physicist, or student of physics, should study. Here the author describes the principle of action in quantum physics. It is not a minimum action principle, like in classical mechanics: you can, however, derive the classical minimum principle from it, in the classical limit. Why is this important? Well, it so happens that the famous gauge field theories could only be quantized under this formalism. Feynman, of course, reformulates everything with his technique, so that the book is very enlightening: it is a rich experience to see well-known things under a different viewpoint. But there are many new things also. The applications are brilliant, covering just about everything: electrodynamics, statistical mechanics, you name it. A new mathematics is introduced by Feynman, a theory of integration in a space whose elements are curves (path integrals). As far as I know, the rigorous theory of this integration does not exist as of now. Undauntedly, Feynman is able to guide us to very important results by using intuitive methods, and checking the validity of a result by obtaining it by two different ways, for instance. Don't miss, by the way, his discussion on the role of rigor (in the mathematical sense) in physics. There is a section on that!

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141681547/RPF__Hibbs_-_Quantum_Mechanics_and_Path_Integrals.djvu

Statistical Mechanics: A Set Of Lectures
Physics, rather than mathematics, is the focus in this classic graduate lecture-note volume on statistical mechanics and the physics of condensed matter. Containing many original contributions to the field, the book provides a concise introduction to basic concepts and a dear presentation of difficult topics, while challenging the student to reflect upon as yet unanswered questions.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141684008/RPF_-_Statistical_Mechanics_-_A_Set_of_Lectures.pdf

Selected Papers of Richard Feynman: With Commentary
These scientific papers of Richard Feynman are renowned for their brilliant content and the author's striking original style. They are grouped by topic: path integral approach to the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, renormalized quantum electrodynamics, theory of superfluid liquid helium, theory of the Fermi interaction, polarons, gravitation, partons, computer theory, etc. Comments on Feynman's topics are provided by the editor, together with biographical notes and a complete bibliography of Feynman's publications.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141683958/RPF_-_SELECTED_PAPERS_OF_RICHARD_FEYNMAN.pdf

The Beat of a Different Drum: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
The rigorous treatment of Feynman's science here may reward graduate students in physics but will likely overwhelm other fans of the lively, Nobel Prize-winning physicist who died in 1988. Science writer Mehra, who teaches physics at the Citadel in South Carolina, competently tracks the development of Feynman's breakthrough work, especially his signature path integral solutions, but awkward syntax and train-wreck chronology distort his subject's life. The first fifth of the book details Feynman's early education and family life without capturing a sense of the uniqueness of the youth who was considered a genius sui generis by one of his high school teachers. Many of the plentiful quotes in this work are attributed to secondary sources, especially Feynman's own popular writings; the general reader may find quantum topics more accessibly examined in the physicist's own QED and The Feynman Lectures on Physics . In the end, Mehra cannot do justice to the large spirit of his subject, either in his life or work.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141683580/RPF_-_J._Mehra_-_The_life_and_science_of_R._Feynman.djvu

The Character of Physical Law
In these Messenger Lectures, originally delivered at Cornell University and recorded for television by the BBC, Richard Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws and gathers their common features into one broad principle of invariance. He maintains at the outset 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," and tends his discussions toward a final exposition of the elegance and simplicity of all scientific laws. Rather than an essay on the most significant achievements in modern science, The Character of Physical Law is a statement of what is most remarkable in nature. Feynman's enlightened approach, his wit, and his enthusiasm make this a memorable exposition of the scientist's craft.
The Law of Gravitation is the author's principal example. Relating the details of its discovery and stressing its mathematical character, he uses it to demonstrate the essential interaction of mathematics and physics. He views mathematics as the key to any system of scientific laws, suggesting that if it were possible to fill out the structure of scientific theory completely, the result would be an integrated set of mathematical axioms. The principles of conservation, symmetry, and time-irreversibility are then considered in relation to developments in classical and modern physics, and in his final lecture Feynman develops his own analysis of the process and future of scientific discovery.
Like any set of oral reflections, The Character of Physical Law has special value as a demonstration of the mind in action. The reader is particularly lucky in Richard Feynman. One of the most eminent and imaginative modern physicists, he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology until his death in 1988. He is best known for his work on the quantum theory of the electromagnetic field, as well as for his later research in the field of low-temperature physics. In 1954 he received the Albert Einstein Award for his "outstanding contribution to knowledge in mathematical and physical sciences"; in 1965 he was appointed to Foreign Membership in the Royal Society and was awarded the Nobel Prize.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141674338/RPF-TCOPL.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141673838/RPF-TCOPL.part2.rar

Six Easy Pieces (Audio Book)
This set couples a book containing the six easiest chapters from Richard Feynman's landmark work, Lectures on Physics--specifically designed for the general, non-scientist reader--with the actual recordings of the late, great physicist delivering the lectures on which the chapters are based. The six compact discs are "music" CDs, not CD-ROMs. Nobel Laureate and genius-at-large Richard Feynman gave these lectures just once, to a group of Caltech undergraduates in 1961 and 1962. He is a startlingly lucid, agile, contagiously enthusiastic communicator, and hearing him deliver these lectures himself in his broad New York accent is a great experience.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141658444/RPF-SEP.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141659434/RPF-SEP.part2.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141659459/RPF-SEP.part3.rar

Six Not So Easy Pieces (AudioBook)
The spectacular success of the book and audio versions of Six Easy Pieces caused a worldwide clamor for more. The result is these six additional lectures, which the legendary teacher and Nobel physicist Richard P. Feyman gave in the early 1960's to freshman Caltech students. Though slightly more challenging than the first six, these additional lectures are more focused, delving into the most revolutionary discovery in twentieth-century physics: Einstein's Theory of Relativity

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141660298/RPF-SNSEP.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141660782/RPF-SNSEP.part2.rar

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
A Nobel-winning physicist, inveterate prankster and gifted teacher, Feynman (1918-1988) charmed plenty of contemporary and future scientists with accounts of his misadventures in the bestselling Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and explained the fundamentals of physics in (among other books) Six Easy Pieces. Editor Jeffrey Robbins's assemblage of 13 essays, interviews and addresses (only one of them new to print) will satisfy admirers of those books and other fans of the brilliant and colorful scientist. Best known among the selections here is certainly Feynman's "Minority Report to the Challenger Inquiry," in which the physicist explained to an anxious nation why the Space Shuttle exploded. The title piece transcribes a wide-ranging, often-autobiographical interview Feynman gave in 1981; an earlier talk with Omni magazine has the author explaining his prize-winning work on quantum electrodynamics, then fixing the interviewer's tape recorder. Other pieces address the field of nanotechnology, "The Relation of Science and Religion" and Feynman's experience at Los Alamos, where he helped create the A-bomb (and, in his spare time, cracked safes). Much of the work here was originally meant for oral delivery, as speeches or lectures: Feynman's talky informality can seduce, but some of the pieces read more like unedited tape transcripts than like science writing. Most often, however, Feynman remains fun and informative. Here are yet more comments, anecdotes and overviews from a charismatic rulebreaker with his own, sometimes compelling, views about what science is and how it can be done.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141674524/RPF-TPOFTO.rar

"Los Alamos From Below'' has been adapted from a talk given by Richard P. Feynman, Richard Chace Tolman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Caltech, in the First Annual Santa Barbara Lectures on Science and Society, given at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1975. This was one of nine lectures presented in a series of "Reminiscences of Los Alamos, 1943-1945." The lectures are now being edited for publication by Dr. Lawrence Badash of the Department of History, UCSB.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/141673780/RPF-LAFB.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/141673007/RPF-LAFB.part2.rar

ENJOY!
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