The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard P. Feynman

The Feynman Lectures on Physics Reviews

• 
  Infinite Jen

  In keeping with my ghoulish experiments on the elasticity of Goodreads reviews, I have provided a handy dandy guide to would-be scientists who wish raid these three volumes for all their willy bits. I have crafted a list of brain specifications for multi-tiered appreciation. It’s worth noting that these lectures are uneven in terms of difficulty, and that someone without a background in mathematics can appreciate some sections, particularly in volume one, just for the conceptual upgrades that Feynman is known sling with such frequency that, you might begin to suspect this inexhaustible supply is the result of communion with a Terrance McKenna style entity of animal crackers and Morphic Resonances. But I digress, precipitously, to imitate what happens with the physics on offer, because they get steep, and you’re almost guaranteed to experience some nasty cyanosis if you have no grounding in numerical witchcraft. It should go without saying that if you’re a Ramanujan type autodidactyl creature, or you share Feynman’s connubial bliss with McKenna-fauna, then you’ll find this specifications/ergregia cum laude all things Dick (Feynman), rather pedestrian. But, before you go; a few comments. First, that’s technically bestiality, even if your corporeal form remains in the lazy boy while your mind strokes Baphomet’s Caduceus. Second, why you would deign to subject yourself to the meanderings of this little idiot is, perhaps, as baffling as your fetish for Éliphas Lévi’s imagery while high on Psilocybe azurescens.
  
  Minimum specs:
  
  A commitment to casting down all shibboleths of superstition regarding how loaves of bread move along incline planes. The intestinal fortitude to accept that you will frequently find yourself out of your depth. A willingness to avail yourself of other resources should you stumble over something so badly that your junk looks like an exploded hotdog. A passion for understanding how the universe works. High school algebra/physics. A mental emetic for purging abstractions in the event that your neurons go critical. A family member with an engineering background who can kindly offer advice (in my case; my dad. Who was also very understanding when, as a wee lass, I took apart a barstool over the course of days by working the screws with my nubby fingers, hid the nuts and bolts in my mouth, then buried my head in the pillows of the couch. A red flag behavior that persists to this day, indicating some bizarre oral fixation has been recently indulged, I urge you to keep your extrapolations pure, but you probably can’t help yourself now.)
  
  Medium specs:
  
  A willingness to work out many problems related to the topics being discussed (you’ll have to seek out supplementary material) in order to make sure you’re not just gaining superficial understanding. Feynman can make things sound much easier than they actually are for us pudding brains. It’s critical to do the work. The lectures were intended for Caltech students, (no slouches, those), and, by Dick’s own admission, many of them became lost trying to drink from the fire hose. You and trig need to be exchanging sexual favors on the reg. College physics/calculus (differential equations for mechanics and dynamics, vector and multidimensional for electricity and magnetism). Controlled amounts of attention enhancing pharmaceuticals. Someone willing to strike you with a kyōsaku (encouragement stick) when you find your mind wandering. Partially digested coffee cherries freshly defecated by an Asian palm civet.
  
  High specs:
  
  Mescaline. (100 mg mescaline hydrochloride (HCl), 111 mg mescaline sulfate or 85 mg mescaline freebase to establish foundation). Small Athame Ritual Dagger (for complex geometrical approximations). Altar constructed according to Fibonacci Sequence. Serpentis Leviathan Cross Altar Tapestry Banner (self-explanatory). Sigil of Astaroth (there are some patches for this at any Hot Topic if you don’t have the resources to craft a shield). Lemegeton Goetia Ritual Circle (embroidered cloth or crude approximation drawn in earth at your own risk, as entities can be extremely detail oriented). Goth Long Matte Black Press On Nails Witchy Hecate Hex Halloween Horror (non-negotiable) Skull Bowl (you’ll probably want this in resin, as genuine human skulls often cast suspicion). Baphomet Horned God Goat Skull Ritual Goblet (assorted candies). Black Mini Taper Spell Candles (naturally). Brass Candle Snuffer With Wood Handle (classy). Cast Iron 6 Inch Wide Mouth Mini Cauldron (mostly vodka). Charcoal Tongs With Inscribed Pentacle (for the nips). Incense (mask scent of daemon smegma). An example ritual for summoning Maxwell’s Demon follows:
  
  Cast the Circle
  
  Using your wand (athame, finger, slide rule etc.). Start in the north, envision you’re drawing up the quantum vacuum energy of the universe, coalescing in your ritual implement of choice, then, pointing said device toward the earth, draw down the collective bombardment of neutrinos in your local area. (It’s perfectly normal if you don’t feel anything during this torrential rain of subatomic particles, but trust me, I have it on good authority that it’s happening.)
  
  Walk around once, saying:
  
  I conjure the Circle of Power, by my factorization and by my largest prime,
  
  I conjure the Circle of Power, a boundary between numerator and denominator;
  
  I conjure the Circle of Power, a sacred space for calculations;
  
  I conjure the Circle of Power, to shelter us from negative energies of innumeracy;
  
  I conjure the Circle of Power, to contain the derivatives and integrals within;
  
  By the powers above, and the powers below, I close this circle- so mote it be!
  
  The following chant for Maxwell’s Demon should be uttered in the likeness of Oppenheimer in the famous clip where he quotes the Bhagavad Gita. Being performed garbed in the robe of black or clad with the sky. At the hour of midnight upon the new of the moon within the circle of consicration [sic]. Using the TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI-36X PRO ENGINEERING/SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR and the CELESTRON’S ADVANCED VX 8-INCH SCHMIDT-CASSEGRAIN TELESCOPE bring forth the watcher from the STATISTICALLY IMPROBABLE ABYSS.
  
  IA! IA!
  
  I DERIVE THEE FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES!
  
  Ageless violator of the second law of thermodynamics.
  
  I CALL THEE AGELESS ONE FORTH FROM THE STATISTICALLY IMPROBABLE ABYSS
  
  Forever bouncing gas molecules.
  
  IGWA YTHALLA SHUGATHATHER!
  
  GR’THERA!
  
  IA! IA! IA! KUTHLU
  
  ENHAL THULUK ENIKAR!
  
  BY THE PARTICLES EXCHANGED THROUGH THIS PARTITION
  
  DEFY THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM
  
  ENHAL THULAK ENIKAR!
  
  NARDAR THULHU RY’LEH KHEMAR
  
  TERROR OF BOLTZMANN YOU ARE DRAWN FORTH
  
  As of Bohr.
  
  MATERIALIZED FROM THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS
  
  As of Einstein.
  
  BY THE WORDS OF THE VENERABLE LORD KELVIN AND JAMES CLERK
  
  BY THE COVENANT OF ROYAL SOCIETY.
  
  NEWTON THULAK ENIKAR!
  
  IA! AZAZAZA THULL GHARNA!
  
  BY THE WORDS OF SADI CARNOT
  
  BY THE COVENANT OF CLAUSIUS.
  
  Be one with us
  
  The name of Maxwell compels thee.
  
  Be friendly unto the worshipers of the INTEGERS!
  
  Fuck fractions
  
  A’Akhar m’lghuni! IA!
  
  VORISH NAA’KAVA!
  
  ENHAL THULAK ENIKAR!
• 
  Kristopher

  I recognize that few will purchase this, but it is the most incredible set of explanations of the basic principles of physics by the most infectiously charming and lucid teacher of it. It has a great conversational tone and is thereby quite readable. Feynman provides excellent examples and thorough explanation. He also gives his honest opinion (as always) to anything controversial. Just a great read if you are curious about such things.
• 
  Manny

  
  
  Goodreads Recommendation Engine! You do know how to get my attention, don't you?
• 
  Armineh Nouri

  It took me about a year to finish all three volumes, after which I can say I have followed and remembered roughly 20% of Feynman's endless derivations. Nevertheless I have immensely enjoyed every page. I once read an article by an educator who advocated for early teaching of concepts related to infinitesimals and transfinites, exponentiation and concepts related to rate of growth and decline in nature. Her idea was that math and science teachers often follow a chronological order, based on the history of science and the order in which various concepts were discovered and evolved. Instead they should follow a logical order, beginning with "fundamentals" instead of "basics."
  
  To me, Feynman's book wholly represents this idea. The content is organized really well, so it makes it easy to follow the big pictures even if details are getting lost here and there. To anyone who might not have the time to go through all volumes, I highly recommend chapters 1-6, 37-38, and 52 of the first volume, chapters 1-4, 18, and 30 of the second volume, and chapters 1-8 of the third volume.
• 
  Tara

  Available for free online! Shit yeah!!
  
  
  http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
• 
  Elizabeth

  Yay for accessible physics! Enough said.
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  Erik

  I used to see this on people's shelves when I was a kid and always wondered what was inside the "three red books." Well the short answer is: everything. It's a great way to learn physics Feynman's way, which means very little problem solving but a lot of deep comprehension and a thematic approach to physics. Meaning: he shows you certain paradigmatic problems which illuminate the physical world and which you can use over and over again. Also he shows you advance peeks at more advanced science, which you will certainly not get in most undergrad physics textbooks. Caveat: Feynman is not so deep philosophically. His take on relativity is strictly for calculational purposes and even in quantum (his specialty) you will find very few deep philosophical insights into the theory besides just: "shut up and calculate!" He seemed to be allergic to mixing philosophy and physics but sometimes it is unavoidable.
• 
  Ari

  This was my fallback textbook throughout my physics education at Cornell. They're dense, fascinating, and wonderful.
  
  I acquired my copy as a prize for being the nerdiest student in my year at Ithaca High; the thing that makes it especially meaningful is that my copy is inscribed by Hans Bethe.
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  Jose Moa

  The Feynmans physics course is a non comon undergraduate course because though there are some formulae and math deductions the book is mainly focussed on the explain in deep the fundamental laws and concepts that the in the matemathical expresions,and this are obtaine generally by inductive reasoning,It touches all fundamental subjects,is writen in a very interesting and readable way and sometimes make striking incursions and results that other books dont make,for example from a similar Klein-Gordon relativistic invariant equation for a scalar field,easily obtains by qualitative reasoning the expresión for the Yukava potential for strong interaction scalar meson.A book readable for all with a hig school backgrund and really interested in learn physics,a book that is in physics the twin brother of the renowned book in matemathics by Alexandrov,Kolmogorov and others titled The Matemathics his Methods and Meaning
  
  
• 
  DJ

  These are my daily Bible passages. One every morning and I feel like a renewed soul.
• 
  Kerem Cankocak

  Bu üç cilt ek­sik­siz pe­da­go­jik bir ça­lış­ma­dır. Ay­rı­ca Feyn­man’ın 1961-64 yıl­la­rı ara­sın­da, Ca­li­for­nia Tek­no­lo­ji Ens­ti­tü­sün­de (Cal­tech) alan­la­rı­na ba­kıl­mak­sı­zın bü­tün bi­rin­ci ve ikin­ci sı­nıf öğ­ren­ci­le­ri­nin ih­ti­ya­cı ol­du­ğu li­sans fi­zik ders­le­ri­nin ta­rih­sel bir kay­dı­dır.
  
  Feynman Dersleri’nin I. Cildi, 1961-62 aka­de­mik yı­lın­da Ca­li­for­ni­a Tek­no­lo­ji Ens­ti­tü­sün­de (Cal­tech) Prof. R.P. Feyn­man ta­ra­fın­dan gi­riş fi­zi­ği der­si ola­rak ve­ril­miş olan bir kon­fe­rans­lar di­zi­si­ne da­yan­mak­ta­dır; tüm Cal­tech bi­rin­ci ve ikin­ci sı­nıf öğ­ren­ci­le­ri­nin al­dı­ğı iki-yıl­lık gi­riş der­si­nin ilk yı­lı­nı kap­sa­mak­ta­dır; ikin­ci yı­lı kap­sa­yan ben­zer bir di­zi de1962-63’te bu­nun pe­şin­den gel­miş­ti. Kon­fe­rans­lar, dört-yıl­lık prog­ram için­de, gi­riş der­si­nin te­mel­den göz­den ge­çi­ri­li­şi­nin ana par­ça­sı­nı oluş­tur­mak­ta­dır. Kitap, alışıldık fiziğe giriş konularının dışına çıkar. Kuantum fiziğine giriş niteliği de taşıyan bu kitap, Feynman’ın dehasını ve en zor konuları basite indirme becerisini yansıtmaktadır.
• 
  Fergus Murray

  Although the Feynman Lectures are not always well-pitched for their intended undergraduate audience, the author's explanations of many physics topics are unsurpassed. The writing is lucid, well-structured and authoritative, and only let down a little by Feynman's occasional failure to appreciate the difficulty of the concepts he is setting out.
• 
  Ian

  Embarrasses me that undergrads fifty years ago were learning things I still don't know. Haha.
• 
  Jonnie Enloe

  This has got to be the easiest nobel Laureat to read in history. It is enjoyable from start to finish and once you've completed a particular subject, it is just like he says it will be: you don't understand anymore about physics than you did when you started, except you understand more about what you don't know.
• 
  Sam Sanford

  You've got to get the audio of this - his voice is amazing
• 
  Bogdan Teodorescu

  Best physics lectures ever.
• 
  5dd

  I didn't learn about this wonderful set of lectures until a year or so after starting my graduate work in engineering. As such, I egotistically assumed that I probably already had a firm grasp on practically everything in the three volume set. After all, it's supposed to be a Freshman-level introduction to Physics, right? No. Wrong. Very, very wrong! Feynman's perspective and his intuitive insight to physics was unlike anything I had ever been exposed to. In fact, it is probably unlike anything that has ever occurred because Feynman was one-of-a-kind. As it turned out, I learned far more about physics from Feynman's "introduction" than I had learned in 4-5 years of course work up until that time.
  
  Although the topics discussed in Feynman's "Red Books" are the same as those discussed in the typical three semester series of introductory Physics, each lesson is presented at a much higher conceptual and philosophical level. Remember, this is Feynman we are talking about; one of the greatest physicists of all time. His idea of an introduction to physics presupposes a mastery of at least one year of calculus and a solid semester of differential equations. Thus, any student lacking these prerequisites is encouraged to look elsewhere for an introductory treatment of the subject.
  
  On the other hand, students in possession of these prerequisites won't find a better overview of physics anywhere. Feynman's intuitive understanding and insightful perspective of physics is absolutely incredible. In fact, it may be completely unparalleled. In this three volume set on physics, one is frequently rewarded with a glimpse into the mind of a true genius. What could be better than that?
  
  I will go so far as to say that a serious student of physics can obtain a complete theoretical education of the subject by studying (and understanding) no more than the following: 1. Feynman's Lectures (a 3 volume set), 2. the Course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz (a 10 volume set), and 3. the numerous mathematical concepts that are referenced by each volume of these two works, which are available from a study of Arfken, or even better, Morse and Feshbach. I am certainly not implying that this is easy, since a true mastery of all of these texts would probably require 5-7 years for a very good student.
• 
  Kaśyap

  This book Provides some wonderful and accessible explanations. This is not a good standalone physics textbook but a great accompaniment to one.
• 
  V

  A benchmark of introductory science books! After it I ended up writing search queries like this one: Books like Feynman Lectures on physics for chemistry, etc.
• 
  David

  This is the absolute best physics book(s) ever. If you read the bio's for the US Physics Team, you will regularly find the sharpest high school minds have been inspired by reading Feynman's Lectures. It is inconceivable that one single person, Richard Feynman, can know/understand this amount of material and explain it all so thoroughly. You really need to have taken Physics already prior to diving into these volumes to fully appreciate the clarity that Feynman conveys on these topics.
  
  You can actually see this entire 3-volume series online at
  https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
  
  Feynman has another book called "Six Easy Pieces", which is directly taken from these lectures:
  Six Easy Pieces (1994)
  Chapters:
  Atoms in motion = Lectures Chapter 1
  Basic Physics = Lectures Chapter 2
  The relation of physics to other sciences = Lectures Chapter 3
  Conservation of energy = Lectures Ch 4
  The theory of gravitation = Lectures Chapter 7
  Quantum behavior = Lectures Chapter 37
• 
  Michael

  I think physicists are geeks. Feynman is far too fascinated with obscure physical phenomena for a normal human. But hey, so am I. These lectures have some math in them, but mostly they are just packed with insight. They are a whirlwind tour through some of the most fascinating things about the world.
  
  Now, I don't like most physics books written for a popular audience. These weren't. These were written for physicists who want to take a break from the drudgery of their usual work and look at things they are probably already very familiar with in a way that will leave them thinking deeply about the world again.
• 
  Raunak

  No engineer (or science student)can claim to be adept at physics unless he has gone over the evergreen Feynman lectures. Feynman presents Physics in such a way that every common man, without knowledge of even +2 level maths can understand the concepts.
  
  Feynman lectures remains one of the best ways of presenting Physics to the masses, making them see practical and simple applications of the concepts and removing the geekiness from Physics.
• 
  Sebastian Perez Saaibi

  Interested in Physics? Read this. I have never seen a more didactic account of Physics
• 
  Thomas Ray

  Free online at
  https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
• 
  Artsalnov

  Наверное я слишком завысил ожидания от книги, верил, что удивит, так удивит)
  Ан нет… как такое может «зажечь» не совсем ясно, может Фейнман хорошо вёл лекцию лично, так сказать харизмой брал, но в тексте это как-то не цепляет.
  Ребёнку такое не посоветуешь.
  Сочувствующим гуманитариям не порекомендуешь.
  Взрослым (состоявшимся) технарям наверно будет вообще скучно.
  Короче, так и не понял на кого рассчитаны сии лекции.
• 
  Quentin H

  Thanks to that book, it allowed me to understand magnetostatics and the application of that magnetic field of a solenoid. It also helped me to understand the applications of Gauss’ Law, Ampère’s law and the law of Biot and Savart. I highly recommend it!
• 
  Sysi

  habe mal den ersten band gelesen, hat eine ganze weile gedauert und habe auch nicht komplett alles immer 100% gecheckt aber war sehr interessant