I consumed this book in 2 days being inspired by "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character. This one still is a great set of stories, but they are a bit different in the essence. "Surely you're Joking" is a bit lighter and the mood is much more dynamic and more fun. "What do you care" is a bit more serious, stories are longer a feel and a bit less lively, but nonetheless very interesting and also touches on many different important problem we still have.

I loved the ending, where Feynman discussed how historical method in decision-making is no longer valid for our fast developing technology. And how validation and testing is important. And how it makes sense to slow down to analyze.

The story about NASA investigation was extremely showcasing of the bureaucracy machine. And it is so true that no efficiency have been added. "We used to do 3 agreed version of reports, cause it was expensive to print more, now we make 23 versions of the report".. and there is goes. How you can't get anything done. Work memories straight away..:))

The first story made me feel a bit sad, but it was very interesting seeing and knowing how people can act really differently in such cases with health issues. I admire a lot of life choices in here. And this book reminded me that there is nothing stronger (if properly matched) than two people, who started growing, developing together and made a life choice to just follow the path together and stay that way no matter what.

And the book also leaves a feeling how much slower the world had been. And how fast things are moving now and how that changed our expectations to other people and people relationships. But also to science, to technology, to life..

Very nice books these are. I'll be coming back to these later some day. To refresh the impressions.

This book has two main parts, one is a sort of biography made of Feynman’s own childhood reminiscences, that helps us understand how he turned into a scientist, episodes of his adult life narrated by himself and others, and then a second part about the Space Shuttle accident and his work in the commission that was nominated to investigate the causes of the accident. I found both parts equally interesting, although the second part became a bit too technical, at times.

I also found that the first part jumped too quickly over his early adult years. I think this essay at BrainPickings is a great complement to the book, for those who’d like to understand a bit more the character of this amazing person: https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/10...

Anyway, I think I will never get tired of reading Feynman, because each time I read him, I am reminded of the beauty of science and the pleasure of finding things out. Feynman refuted the notion that scientific quest deprives life of poetry, as many used to argue in the past (fortunately, things are less so nowadays):
” Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere globs of gas atoms. I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more? The vastness of the heavens stretches my imagination — stuck on this carousel my little eye can catch one-million-year-old light. A vast pattern — of which I am a part…. What is the pattern, or the meaning, or the why? It does not do harm to the mystery to know a little about it. For far more marvelous is the truth than any artists of the past imagined it. Why do the poets of the present not speak of it? What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?”

And how beautiful is this text, written by Feynman himself, about the wonder of life:

“I stand at the seashore, alone, and start to think.

There are the rushing waves
mountains of molecules
each stupidly minding its own business
trillions apart
yet forming white surf in unison

Ages on ages
before any eyes could see
year after year thunderously pounding the shore as now.
For whom, for what? On a dead planet
with no life to entertain.

Never at rest
tortured by energy
wasted prodigiously by the Sun
poured into space. A mite makes the sea roar.

Deep in the sea
all molecules repeat
the patterns of one another
till complex new ones are formed.
They make others like themselves
and a new dance starts.

Growing in size and complexity
living things
masses of atoms
DNA, protein
dancing a pattern ever more intricate.

Out of the cradle
onto dry land
here it is standing:
atoms with consciousness;
matter with curiosity.

Stands at the sea,
wonders at wondering: I
a universe of atoms
an atom in the Universe.”

I had a conversation with a coworker a couple days ago about whether leadership can be taught. Can you make somebody into a great leader? If so, then why are so many people bad at leading? I really have no idea. But what I am far more certain about is whether there are natural born leaders; I’m sure there are, and I’m sure Feynman was one of them.
tt
Something about Feynman’s voice, about his way of seeing and thinking about the world, makes me respond quite automatically. I stop being skeptical; I’ll trust anything he says. As soon as he starts talking, I’m instantly won over. It’s strange. I’m not particularly prone to hero worship; and I’m generally very distrustful of leaders. Yet all of my natural cynicism and distrust are dispersed like a puff of air when faced with Feynman's charm.

I’m not sure this says more about me or about Feynman. Perhaps I’m just particularly susceptible to his appeal. But I suspect that it isn’t just me, and that many others respond this way too. There is some mysterious element in his personality that everyone seems to notice. In another review, Manny suggested that Feynman might have been a mystic. I admit that I scoffed at the suggestion at the time. But now I think it’s very insightful. For there is something quasi-religious about Feynman’s combination of naïveté, simplicity, and keen wonder at the natural world; there is something indeed mystical about his way of cutting through everything distracting and irrelevant, of putting aside all unhelpful conventions, and getting to the core of the issue.
tt
Well, on to the book. This is the more serious older brother of Surely You’re Joking. The lighthearted tone that enlivened the earlier book is here almost absent. To the contrary, the second chapter of this book, which tells the story of Feynman’s first wife, is downright tragic. And the story of Feynman’s involvement with the Rogers Commission, investigating the Challenger Shuttle disaster, is detailed and lengthy. The materials collected into this book do feel like they’ve been thrown together; the parts don’t form a unified whole. But taken individually, everything here is well worth reading, both for the insight into Feynman’s character, and the exploration of institutional NASA stupidity.
tt
It’s a good thing Feynman is dead. If he was alive, I might have to quit my job and study physics under him, and that wouldn’t be fun for either of us—since I’d be a dull student.

Such an amazing book!!

Starts off with many intriguing anecdotes about Feynman’s early life — he taught himself calculus by the age of 15 whattt. He then discusses the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, from his famous o-ring demonstration to the strained relationship between the levels of NASA staff. One of the featured interviews exposes the disparity between working engineers and NASA management: When asked about the probability of failure aboard the shuttle, the working engineers said 1 in 200/1 in 300 whereas the management said 1 in 10^5. NASA officials also tried to alter and devalue Feynman’s report to ~save themselves~ and the “patriotism” associated with NASA.

Anyways this book was super interesting and can’t wait to read his other book!!!!! The actual appendix is also included at the end so that was super cool to read through. I’ll leave you with a fire quote and the last sentence of his appendix: “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.” TELL EM

Once again, Feynman is touching, hilarious, frank, and insightful, all at once.

This book, like the one preceding it, Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman, is a transcription of recordings made by Feynman’s drumming partner, Ralph Leighton. I have spent quite a few late nights watching interviews of Feynman on YouTube, including the story about the brown throated thrush, and I could actually hear his voice in my head as I was reading it.

This book is not as linear as the first one, being more of a random collection of stories, drawings, letters, an account of his time on the Presidential commission investigating the Challenger disaster, and a talk he gave on the value of science. Nevertheless, it was just as entertaining, inspiring, and illuminating.

I found the story of Feynman’s run-in with an angry crowd of feminists particularly funny. His story about a Negro (his words, not mine) taxi driver in Trinidad left me shaking my head, while the section on NASA had me banging my fists against the table. It is inspiring to see that despite Feynman’s respect for the US government, his scientific integrity made him prepared to be honestly critical of how it operates.

I was afraid the book would end on a bad note with the somewhat vapid speech at the end, but there were some quite deep insights in there as well, and his closing remarks about not suppressing discussion and criticism was a perfect way to end it.

Overall, not as meaty as some other books of this genre, but it was a quick entertaining read, and left me with many lessons I will carry with me.

This book is a collection of stories told by the Nobel laureate, Richard Feynman. The first half of the book is largely focused on several of Feynman's early influences, particularly his first wife, Arlene. A few of these stories are light, but a lot are emotionally heavy as Feynman recounts how he and Arlene dealt with her battle with tuberculosis. Even in such a trying situation, Richard and Arlene's positive and pragmatic personalities shine through and inspire.

The second half of the book contains stories from his time on the Rogers Commission, investigating the causes of the Challenger space shuttle explosion. Feynman must be one of very few people who can recount a meeting between a middle manager and three engineers with such absolute hilarity (note: I am an engineer and thus may have a slightly warped sense of what hilarity actually is).

Anyone who has read Feynman's previously published book, "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman," will be familiar with his engaging and entertaining narrative style. He really is a gifted storyteller. What really sticks out for me in this book is Feynman's curiosity in all aspects of life around him and his energy to pursue this curiosity. His enjoyment of science and of learning in general is inspiring.

Reading Feynman's tales, it's easy to start believing that anyone with the desire and energy to pursue their passion can have extraordinary experiences.

A journey into the mind of one of the most brilliant (and interesting) people of the 20th century. This book is worth reading for his insight into the Challenger accident (and his important role as a member of the Presidential Commission) alone; combined with his recounting of the people who have shaped his life, and his views on the value of science and it's relation to society, this is a great account of Feynman's legacy. If you'd like to learn more about this truly curious character, I'd start with Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman (which preceded this book).

We were having a discussion about safety at NASA in another thread and I thought of this book, about half of which consists of an account of Feynman's role in the investigation following the Challenger disaster. One of the other reviewers complained that this section was too long, but I found it completely fascinating.

Feynman was always very good at asking tough questions and at describing things as they are, not as they are supposed to be. The most famous bit is where he's at the press conference and demonstrates the critical problem with the O-ring by dropping one into a glass of ice-water. That was certainly dramatic. But I found the surrounding discussion even more interesting. As Feynman said, he was forced to make this dramatic gesture because he felt that the people in charge didn't actually want him to uncover the reason for the crash. They just wanted it to look like all due diligence had been applied.

Also, when he started digging into the safety calculations, he rapidly discovered that they made no sense. NASA had all these claims about how careful they were, and how unlikely it was that anything could go wrong on a launch. They quoted figures like "a one in ten thousand chance of failure". So Feynman does the obvious piece of arithmetic and says, guys, do you honestly mean you could launch one Shuttle a day for 30 years and only get a single crash? Several technical people back down and say, no, of course not, the real figure is probably more like one in a hundred. There are too many unknowns. But the senior managers stick to their guns, and when he goes back to talk to the techies a second time they won't confirm their earlier comments.

There is a really tragic story here about self-deception. The US politicians decided that space travel needed to be safe, but they didn't understand that it couldn't yet be done. Their unwillingness to accept this fact has almost killed manned space flight.

The rest of the book is pretty good too. Warning: the chapter about his first wife and her early death from tuberculosis might make you cry.

Not well structured or organized as one would expect, but that’s because it was written from things he dictated as he was struggling with a fatal cancer. Hence, the book was actually published months after his death in 1988. Offering good glimpse of his life, family and personal journey, and a little insight into his involvement in the Manhattan project and the NASA shuttle program.

Ralph Leighton tarafından derlenen Başkalarının Ne Düşündüğünden Sana Ne, Feynman’ın çok ilgi gören biyografisi "Eminim Şaka Yapıyorsunuz, Bay Feynman”ın devamı niteliğinde. Ancak Feynman bu kitapta çoğunlukla şaka yapmıyor. Ayrıca, bu kitapta konular, düzenliymiş havası vermek için kronolojik olarak sıralanmış olan "Eminim Şaka Yapıyorsunuz Bay Feynman"a göre birbirleriyle daha az ilgili.
Başkalarının Ne Düşündüğünden Sana Ne, Feynman'ın kişiliğini en çok biçimlendirenlerin etkilerini anlatarak başlıyor; annesi, babası, Mel ve ilk aşkı Arlene. Bu kitabın ismini aldığı Arlene'nin öyküsü Feynman için anlatması üzücü bir öykü.
Kitaptaki "Bay Feynman Washington'a gidiyor" bölümü Feynman'ın Uzay Mekiği Challenger'ın düşüşünü araştıran Rogers Komisyonu'ndaki maceralarını kapsıyor. Bu maceradan sonra Feynman'ın on yıl süren kanser mücadelesi, Caltech'de verdiği son dersten iki hafta sonra, 15 Şubat 1988'de sona erdi.
Feynman’ın en dokunaklı ve ilham verici konuşmalarından biri olan "Bilimin Değeri" kitabın Sonsöz’ü.

Давно помітив, що в мемуарах мені цікавіші зазвичай розділи про дитинство. І дуже часто виходить, що хтось важливий зумів створити і пояснити людині цікавість світу, посадити в неї те зерно захоплення, або дитя саме знайшлося до цього такий шлях. З таких потім й постають чудові оповідачі та оповідачки історій. У Фейнмана таким став батько. І Фейнман проводить нас шляхом від дитинного обожнення і захоплення до того неодмінного усвідомлення, що батько просто людина, котра теж помиляється і далеко не ідеальна. Не якийсь бог, а один із простих смертних. Але ця і тисячі подібних історій чудово підтверджують ту необхідність відкривати дітям світи, розмовляти із ними, вчити і вчитися.
Загалом перша частина книжки, де про дитинство, перший шлюб, а потім про подорожі і все решті була куди цікавішою за другу частину, в котрій йшлося про комісію, котра мала розслідувати причини катастрофи Челенджера. Хоча там типу є якісь інсайди, про комісію як соціяльну групу і т.д., але не дуже хотілося в це вникати, чесно кажучи.

অনেকের কাছে নাকী ফাইনম্যানরে আত্মম্ভরী মনে হইছে। আমার কাছে ফাইনম্যানরে একজন চমৎকার খেলুড়ে মনে হয়। কথা নিয়ে, স্মৃতি নিয়ে, এমন কী দুঃখের স্মৃতি, কে জানে, হয়ত পদার্থবিদ্যা নিয়েও!

যোগ্যতার অভাবহেতু বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে পদার্থবিজ্ঞানে না পড়া হইলেও ফাইনম্যানের আকর্ষণ আমার কাছে কমছে বলে মনে হইলো না, এই বই পড়ে।
বইয়ের শেষ অর্দ্ধেকের গোয়েন্দা গল্প যেটা, সেটা রোমহর্ষক না হলেও গুরূত্বপূর্ণ। ভদ্রলোকের যবনিকাপতনটাও ভালো। জানি, বিজ্ঞান ধুয়ে দেয়ার পাত্রপাত্রীরা আছেন। তবুও। যবনিকাপাতের কথাগুলিরে অনেকের কাছে আবার <স্বতঃসিদ্ধ কথা আবার বলার কী দরকার ছিলো> এমনও মনে হতে পারে। তবুও। ফাইনম্যান গল্প বলতে পারেন, এবং পুরান কথা আবার মনে করায় দিতে পারেন। আদতে হয়ত যা কখনোই মনে পড়ত না। কেনো বিজ্ঞান ভালো লাগত এইসব সমাচার আর কী।