“You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.”

Richard Feynman was a showman. He loved to act, was often making jokes on other people and didn’t care about what others thought of him. His contagious character has gained a legendary figure, adding to his also legendary status as a scientist and physicist. Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman is a pretty interesting and funny account of some of Feynman’s most famous “adventures”, and besides being the best way of “getting to know” Richard Feynman, this book is also a joy to read.

This book is really a collection of stories from Feynman’s life. From his childhood to his time as a student at MIT and Princeton, his role at the Manhattan Project during WW2, his first job as a teacher at Cornell and how he later joined Caltech, and finally his trips to Vegas and Buffalo in the US, to Brazil and Japan abroad, and to Stockholm for the Nobel Prize ceremony. It’s a long journey and along the way you also “meet” many of the people with whom Feynman interacted. Famous physicists, government officials, surprising friends and acquaintances, and even close relatives. And at the end you will discover that even though Feynman is the central character in these stories, the “supporting cast” is also pretty good.

Even though Richard Feynman was above all a scientist, you won’t find much science here to be honest, just small amounts here and there. There are many other books from him out there describing physics in detail, but if you want to meet the famous character surrounding the man then Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman is the way to go.

Емоції змішані. Я очікувала більше фізики, більше духу тогочасної науки. А книжка вийшла переважно про те, який Фейнман молодець з вуст самого Фейнмана. Ці вічні вихваляння, що він може все ліпше за інших, що біологи, психологи, художники, інженери на заводі, військові і бізнесмени - телепні, а він он дивіться, як все добре розуміє і може! Нє, ну це занадто. Чоловіче, тобі дали Нобеля, навіщо з таким відчаєм доводити, що ти молодець, ми вкурсі! :)
Але в книжці були цікаві й дотепні моменти, інколи він писав навіть дуже щиро і відкрито і це було приємно читати. Фейнман, попри хвалькуватість, має багато крутих рис характеру, як от жага все досліджувати, розуміти світ навколо і захоплюватися його красою. З моїх спостережень, справді успішні науковці, та й не лише науковці, саме такі - відкриті до нового і зацікавлені життям. Фейнман протягом тексту і малював, і грав на барабанах, нюхав книжки, і робив досліди з свідомістю в камері депривації, проводив лекції на історичні теми, пробував себе у різних ролях, навіть в ролі члена комісії з вибору підручників для школи. Також він подорожував, і під час подорожей з захопленням досліджував інші культури, а не сидів у капсулі знайомих явищ.
Переклад непоганий, читається легко, але моє серце розбили “слонячі ікла”. Я перевірила, в оригіналі було “elephant tusks”, тобто це не вигадка Фейнмана. Чому ікла? Чому вже тоді не різці? Саме з різців еволюціонували бивні, якщо вже на то пішло. І що не так з словом “бивні”, я навіть не змогла нагуглити срачів на тему цього, що слово не гідне української мови. Хіба що це якісь таємні срачі.
Завершує книгу адаптований для книги виступ Фейнмана про культ карго в науці. Це дуже хороший виступ і Фейнман говорить про дуже важливі речі.
П.С. Я не люблю суперобкладинки, але ця справді дуже кльова і дотепна :)

4.5 stars

Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman never wrote a memoir; this collection is the closest there is. As it’s not a complete memoir or biography, many details of Feynman’s life are absent.



It’s in roughly chronological order. Dr. Feynman attended MIT for his undergrad, Princeton for his post-grad, and taught at Cornell and CalTech. Feynman is the kind of person who has to know why and how things work. Many of these sections are about him trying out something new. He always says “I worked very hard” to get to at least mediocre in different skill areas. He also had things to say about the education system that I found interesting.

Dr. Feynman’s attempts to learn the drums reminded me of this joke:
Q: How do you get a drummer to stop playing?
A: Put sheet music in front of him.

Dr. Feynman lived at the dawn of particle physics; he got to meet Einstein and Neils Bohr and others. I am a bit jealous. It was interesting to see how his mind worked, and I enjoyed the way he would tweak people. I think he may have had mild ASD; he was very clueless about social interactions.

He describes an experiment where he was having no luck picking up women by being a nice guy but had success when he was a jerk to them. In the end, he didn’t like being that kind of person. But it seems consistent with the way so many women love romances with an abusive love interest.

Overall, it was so fascinating. Even the topics that didn’t sound interesting at first ended up being interesting. Included with Audible Plus.

Language: Mild, several instances b***ch
Sexual Content: Feynman describes visiting topless dance clubs, picking up girls in bars, and painting nudes. Not explicit.
Violence/Gore: None
Harm to Animals: None
Harm to Children: None
Other (Triggers): Lack of social skills leads to poor treatment of some people, which Feynman seems unaware of. Anti-Semitism.

i didn't really read this, but goodreads won't let you choose "read some of this and decided to throw it against a wall but then realized i was in a library and it's not cool to throw library books against a wall ..." i only got through one essay, chosen at random, because i've been curious about this book for a while. i had some time in the library one day and decided to attend to that curiosity. here's my re-enactment of said essay:

people don't think because they don't think the same way i do! that's ridiculous! maybe i should fuck with some poor working-class girl and then laugh when my little experiment makes a mess because she doesn't think (the same way i do)! that means she doesn't think! here, let me fuck with some other people who don't think (the same way i do)! it's funny when i'm an asshole! aren't you amused?!?

um ... no. no, i'm not. i wanted to give it another shot, to see if it was just that essay, but just glancing through the rest of it i kept encountering other quick glimpses of self-aggrandising "merriment" and i put it back on the shelf.

This amusing little book of anecdotes had an alarmingly influential role in my life. It convinced me of the odd notion that it would be a good idea to go to Caltech and major in physics. In retrospect, this would have been a better idea had I been born around 1930 and was starting my scientific career around 1940, but nowadays it's a tough slog in physics, both money-wise and also discovery-wise. I think that people like Bohr and Planck and Einstein and Feynman discovered all the good stuff in physics and that future theory will be more difficult and less beautiful (though perhaps these string-theorists put my foot in my mouth). I wish I had realized all this when I was 17 rather than 24, but all is not lost: physics is wonderful training for all manner of mathematical disciplines, and all has worked out for the best. I retain a deep fondness for this book, and rereading old passages brings me comfort. If you ever have the choice between reading this book and doing something productive and worthwhile, I recommend that you read this book. All will work out for the best for you too.

n  “Innovation is a very difficult thing in the real world” n

I generally average about a book a week... and to keep it simple I set my book goal to 52 each year. I lean heavily towards fiction of various flavors. By the end of the year I usually only managing a paltry 4-5 non-fiction books. Nearly every time I do so – I think “I really need to read more non-fiction... that was really [ fun | interesting | exciting | etc ]” . After reading Feynman's “Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman” I again had those same feelings. It WAS really funny and interesting.

This has been on my list for a while. It popped up on my library's website as a recommendation – I think after I had read “Leonardo da Vinci” by Walter Isaacson. I think the odd title struck me as funny – so I added it to my list. A few years later.. the “Oppenheimer” movie came out with lots of cameos from various physicists that I knew about from school. I saw Jack Quaid and before I reviewed the credits (one of the first things I do after watching a movie is look everyone up on IMDB) and thought to myself “I wonder if they cast him as Feynman? He seems to have the quirky personality for that” - I guessed right. So in a year where most folks were reading about Oppenheimer in “American Prometheus” I decided to be different and finally read the Feynman book.

As I said – a book like this reminds me of why I really need to add MORE non-fiction to my annual list. Feynman is quite funny and a great storyteller. As it is a memoir I'm sure some of it is embellished a bit, but it 's not too over the top. (No Big Fish stories in there or anything).

Feynman for all his life was a very inquisitive person. He loved to learn and innovate and invent new ways to solve problems. These didn't always work out... like when he almost set his house on fire as a teen in his “lab”. He also had very funny stories about how he got tasked with doing repetitive activities and he would come up with alternative ways to accomplish them. Nearly all of these led to his supervisor's yelling at him “No No – you can't do it like that!!!”. After several such stories he mentioned the quote I began this review with. “Innovation is a very difficult thing in the real world” . I can really relate to that. My career is full of challenging status quo ideas... not everyone likes that. How does the saying go? “Everyone likes innovation, but nobody likes change” - very true.

It wasn't just because I saw Jack Quaid in the movie that nudged me into this book. I didn't know before the movie he was involved at Los Alamos. I figured he would have interesting and unique insights into the project. These were some of my favorite parts of the book actually. Whether it involved the censorship of the mail and how he got on the nerves of the censors... how he managed to get himself a private room... the descriptions of the mechanical 'computing machines' to solve problems... how he was probably the only person to watch the atomic bomb test w/o the dark glasses... and the many many problems with security... it was all good. The security issues were really funny as he would demonstrate how lame the security was – hoping they would fix it and safeguard the nation's most important secrets – and always seemed to find a way to work around any new measures put in place.

I found it very funny that his reputation as a joker seemed to follow him around and when he tried to be serious they would think he was kidding and not believe him. The story from the fraternity was quite funny. The bit with the psychiatric evaluation was funny too – and reminded me of Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie a bit.

I didn't know he was a drummer – the parts about his visits to Brazil were very interesting. He also talked about how he got into sensory deprivation to try to induce hallucinations. In the same chapter he said he never used hallucinogenic drugs (probably referring to LSD) to help that experience along – because he was afraid it might permanently effect his mind. Then a few paragraphs later he said they gave him doses of Ketamine... umm.. “Mr. Feynman – you may be going down the K-Hole” it was a different time for sure.

I found his perspective on learning science very aligned with my own. I always try to equate things to something you can use or think about in real world applications. Here's my own example of this. Take the distributive property in mathematics which is a(b + c) = ab + ac. I remember my friends in high school saying “Why would you ever use that?”. Well... for me I use it all the time to calculate tips in my head at restaurants. Let's say I get a bill that is $58 and I want to leave a 15% tip. I'm not good at multiplying by 15%, but I can easily multiply by 10% by moving the decimal point... or $5.80. Then I add in the other 5% (which is half of that value) $2.90... add the two to bet $8.70... just round up to $9.00. Feynman has several examples of how to use similar ideas to teach people how to actually apply the science – and not just memorize the formula to pass the test.. and not actually learn how to apply it.

Having said this... Feynman is known for – and won a Nobel Prize for - his contributions to quantum mechanics. This is one of the most difficult topics for me to get my head around in college physics. It's not something you can easily relate to in your every day life.. and although I have never dabbled in any experimental drugs either – no LSD or going down the K-Hole... it might have helped! This is some whacked out stuff

با اشتیاق زیادی به سراغ این کتاب رفتم و برای مدتها منتظر آشنایی بیشتر با ابعادی از زندگی شخصی چنین انسانی معتبر و معلمی مبتحر بودم. فصل‌های اول برایم شوکه‌کننده بود. خاطره خوبی از نویسندگانی که ایگوی بزرگی دارند و خودشان را در مرکز همه چیز می‌بینند ندارم. چه نمونه‌های وطنی مثل زیدآبادی و چه نمونه‌های خارجی همچون نسیم طالب. اما این بار به خودم می‌گفتم بیشتر باید تحمل کرد و دستاوردهای فاینمن قابل‌مقایسه نیستند. گرچه می‌دانستم اینها هیچ توجیهی برای این گونه پنداشتن دنیای پیرامونی نیستند ولی همچنان چیزی مرا می‌کشید تا با دلایل پرخوانش بودن اثر آشنا شوم. یک فرق فاینمن این است که خودش میداند چطور حرف میزند و بنابراین سعی میکند ظاهر حرف را جور دیگری بیاراید. گرچه به نظرم میرسد اگر با نسخه واقعی فاینمن مواجه بودیم بسیاری از این نکات به صورت طنز بیان شده‌بودند اما چیزی از غیرل��زم بودن آنها یا در مواقعی اهانت‌آمیز و خودخواهانه بودن‌شان نمی‌کاهد

نمونه‌ای از مصادیق ایگوی بزرگی که فقط در مواجهه با مردمان عادی هم رخ نمی‌نمایاند
"من اغلب به هم‌اتاقی‌هایم گوش میدادم. آنها هر دو سال بالایی بودند و برای درس فیزیک نظری‌شان مطالعه میکردند. یک روز خیلی سخت بر روی چیزی کار می‌کردند که برای من کاملا واضح بود" و این گزاره‌ای است که بارها به شکلهای مختلف تکرار می‌شود. یا مثلا آنجا که می‌گوید در دانشگاه کورنل دانشکده‌هایی هستند که علاقه‌ای به آنها ندارد و به این معنی نیست که آنها ایرادی دارند ولی وقتی به فلسفه میرسد میگوید "بچه‌های این دپارتمان واقعا احمق بودند". یا برخی از گزاره‌هایش شاید در دنیای واقعی نتایج ترسناکی داشته باشند. مثلا در میانه بحثی تخصصی با گروهی که بر سر درستی فرضیه‌ای پذیرفته‌شده اختلاف نظر دارند و در نهایت مثل بسیاری مثالهای دیگر حق با فاینمن بوده می‌گوید "از آن زمان به بعد من هرگز به نظرات کارشناسی توجه نمیکنم و همه چیز را خودم محاسبه میکنم" بعد هم مثالهایی می‌آورد که هر وقت کسی با نظریه‌ای جدید آمد او خودش تلاش کرد تا درستی آن را اثبات کند که در دنیای امروز نه لزوما ممکن است و نه صحیح

با این حال، مطالعه کتابی با این قلم با همه دردهایی که می‌تواند داشته باشد، برخلاف نمونه‌های دیگری که برشمردم خالی از نتیجه نیست. مخصوصا آنجا که انتظار میرود فاینمن از کارش بگوید، سرشار از نکات مفید است.

مثلا بحثی درباره علاقه‌اش به فیزیک دارد و آنچه می‌گوید و بر آن متمرکز می‌شود که آن زمانی که خود را بعنوان محققی جوان در مقابل جمعی میبیند که ولفگانگ پائولی و انشتین جزوی از آن هستند باعث میشود تا بتواند به راحتی نظریه خودش را عرضه کند

یا در جایی دیگر نکته‌ای دارد که کلاس مواجهه با خودشیفتگی است. آنجا که با خواهرش - که انسان فرهیخته‌ای است - صحبت میکند که مقاله دو نفر را نمی‌فهمد و بسیار پیچیده است و جواب می‌شنود که این به این خاطر نیست که نمی‌فهمی. بلکه به این دلیل است که خودت آن را ابداع نکرده‌ای. به شیوه‌ خودت نمی‌توانی بفهمی بلکه باید دوباره دانش‌آموز شوی و همه را یاد بگیری. و با این کار فاینمن میگوید کاملا حق با خواهرش بوده‌است. همین فراموش کردن خود و آنچه در مرکز همه چیز می‌دانیم حتی وقتی به شکلی ناخودآگاه درآمده و آگاهانه از آن دست برمی‌داریم بسیار راه‌گشاست

اما گل سرسبد به نظرم بحثی است که درباره تفکری دارد که منجر به دریافت جایزه نوبل شد. در میانه بحث می‌گوید به مرحله‌ای رسیده‌ بودم که حس میکردم کم آورده‌ام و هیچ دستاوردی ندارم. به جایگاهی که می‌خواستم رسیده بودم و الان کمی از فیزیک زده شده‌ام. پس چرا قبلا از آن لذت میبردم؟ چون با آن بازی میکردم. حتی زمانی که در نیروگاه اتمی بودم با فیزیک بازی میکردم و از آن لذت میبردم. مثل زمانی که در مدرسه بازی‌هایی با فیزیک ابتدایی انجام میدادم. چیزهایی ابداع کردم که قبلا سایرین ابداع کرده بودند ولی مهم نبود چون من با آن ها بازی میکردم و فیزیک یاد میگرفتم. دوباره به همین ذهنیت بازگشتم که بازی کنم و لذت ببرم و وقتی روی پروژه‌های کوچکی کار میکردم که به فیزیک مرتبط بودند و کسی میپرسید به چه دردی میخورد یا اهمیتش چیست میگفتم مهم نیست فقط برای این که خوش میگذره. عکس‌العمل دیگران مهم نبود و سعی میکردم دوباره از فیزیک لذت ببرم. اول این چیزها مربوط به کارهای مهمی نبودند ولی به مرور مهم شدند و در نهایت به نتایجی رسیدند که باعث رسیدن به جایزه نوبل شد

Нобеловият лауреат-сваляч: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...

Лесно мога да кажа, че това е най-забавната научна книга след “Пътеводител на галактическия стопаджия” на Адамс :) И докато гледате недоумяващо, ще допълня – “Сигурно се шегувате, г-н Файнман” е още едно легендарно четиво, което най-сетне имаме на български, подобно на “Бледа синя точица” и “Дракони в райската градина” на Карл Сейгън. Ако не сте чували за Ричард Файнман, логично е да сте озадачени. Затова ще опитам да резюмирам с две думи: в тази книга Нобелов лауреат описва забавната страна на живота си, всичките си странни хрумки, шеги, внезапни увлечения, обсебващи страсти (касоразбивачество, изобразително изкуство, музика, красиви жени), хитроумните начини, по които е заблуждавал околните, че има паранормални сили… “Сигурно се шегувате, г-н Файнман” е книга за гъвкавостта на човешкия ум, за възможностите му да се развива в какви ли не посоки, да попива информация отвсякъде – и с това да става по-добър, по-разбиращ, по-умеещ. Ако мислите, че учените са сухари, тази книга ще ви шокира, ако подозирате, че под рошавите коси и трескавия поглед има мисли само за наука, силно ще се изненадате.

Издателство "Изток-Запад"
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...

A funny memoir by a classic prankster!

Loved:
* The geeky stuff is exceptional.
* Touches on multiple aspects of science and mathematics in a funny way.
* Extremely loved the cross cultural travel adventures - Spanish, Portuguese, South American expedition, Japan.
* Hilarious pranks - the missing door, safecracking, encounter with a military psychologist, electric mental calculations, leaving a tip in an inverted coffee cup (full of water!). Some very good mind games!
* Brimming with curiosity, logic and (not so) common sense in everyday life.
* Some unorthodox tips and tricks on gambling, observations on education system, picking girls, the world of art (nude sketches), delivering lectures and playing drums! There's so much more to it.

Did not like:
* Too much of bragging and boastfulness. Ok, he was a great scientist honored with nobel prize, linked with Los Alamos, project Manhattan, biggest institutions and all.... but there is zero modesty in writing!
* The passive condescending references about his wives. They only feature as a sidekick in his pranks.
* The pranks (loads and loads of them) were intelligent and hilarious, yet he must really have been a pain in the ass to be with!

Якщо припустити, що перша книга, прочитана в році, визначає всі наступні, то мені дуже пощастило.
Книга про Річарда Фейнмана напрочуд цікава, повна глибоких думок та хорошого гумору. Довго відтягував момент і не хотів, щоб історії цієї безумовно талановитої людини для мене завершились.
Часом на співбесідах ставлять питання "Якби ви могли поспілкуватись з історичною постаттю, хто б це був?"
Після прочитання цієї книги, я б, не задумуючись, відповів: "Фейнман".

n  n
Richard P. Feynman was a winner of the Nobel prize in physics. This book tells us about various escapades he had in his life. I have read a few books written by Nobel Prize winners in Physics. Most of them were written formally about the academy stuff related to Physics.

I knew what I had to expect from this book. I was in for a big surprise when I started reading it. This book will give you a totally different experience. You are in for a joyride with Mr. Feynman, who discusses almost everything under the sun with ease in a brilliant humorous way.

His tryst with art, Brazilian bongo, bars, gambling, dating, and many other things will keep you amazed and entertained at the same time. We will wonder how this Physicist got a handsome amount for his drawings. He was the very best in almost everything he tried in his life.

n  What I learned from this book n
n  1) Why is it important for a Scientist to be genuine? n
Feynman tells us the importance of being genuine in Scientific circles to avoid bias and the importance of avoiding revealing only favorable data.

"The idea is to try to give all of the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution; not just the information that leads to judgment in one particular direction or another.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you've not fooled yourself, it's easy not to fool other scientists...
You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.”

n  2) How did Japan become a developed country? n
If you are someone who read the book, To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima, you will see how terribly Japan was affected due to the world war and the atom bomb explosion in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From that situation, Japan has become a superpower. Many factors contributed to their success, like the Kaizen technique, Toyota way, minimalism, Ikigai, and Kakeibo. Feynman tells us how Japan developed at such a fast pace.

"The people of Japan believed they had only one way of moving up: to have their children educated more than they were; that it was very important for them to move out of their peasantry to become educated. So there has been a great energy in the family to encourage the children to do well in school, and to be pushed forward. Because of this tendency to learn things all the time, new ideas from the outside would spread through the educational system very easily. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Japan has advanced so rapidly."

n  3) How did Mr. Feynman become the best in whatever he tried to do in his life? n
We will be amazed at the different areas that Feynman could handle in his life. He was very successful in almost all the fields he tried to deal with. He himself is saying that it was due to his confidence that he was able to deal with multiple fields like Physics, Art, and Music in his life.

“You have to have absolute confidence. Keep right on going, and nothing will happen.”

n  My favourite three lines from this book n

“I always do that, get into something and see how far I can go.”

"You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing."

"The whole problem of discovering what was the matter, and figuring out what you have to do to fix it–that was interesting to me, like a puzzle."

n  What could have been better?n
The problem with this book is that Feynman might sound narcissistic and chauvinistic in some areas of this book. Some won't like the way he described women and other fields of science like biology. His extraordinary confidence can be interpreted as grandiosity by some people.

Feynman himself said that he is not a perfect person. He had his own negatives. Feynman died in February 1988. Most of the incidences discussed in this book happened in the 1950s to 1980s. We should also consider the time period in which he lived and should never try to interpret this book with the political correctness of 2022.

I can't still blame a reader if they felt what I described above, as I also felt the same in some parts of this book. There are innumerable positives in this book that will cancel all the above negatives easily.

n  Rating n
5/5 This book will be a good choice if you want to have a fun filled experience for sometime with a true genius.

“I wonder why. I wonder why.
I wonder why I wonder.
I wonder why I wonder why
I wonder why I wonder!”

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I really liked this book, it was fun to read and also really interesting.

Some people say the author seems a bit entitled, but it’s his autobiography, and he did win a Nobel Prize, so I think that’s fair.

He was kind of a ladies’ man, and a few of the stories he tells might feel outdated or offensive now, so just keep that in mind if you decide to read it.

What amazed me the most is how good he was at so many different things, while I’m struggling with just one job