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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) |  | Authors: Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton
Creators: Edward Hutchings, Albert R. Hibbs
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $2.47
as of 11/21/2009 18:18 CST details
You Save: $13.48 (85%)
New (42) Used (110) from $2.54
Seller: hellenbooks
Rating:  249 reviews
Sales Rank: 1812
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0393316041
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.0924
EAN: 9780393316049
ASIN: 0393316041
Publication Date: April 17, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
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. --Wendy Smith
Product Description
The outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original. In this phenomenal national bestseller, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman recounts in his inimitable voice his adventures trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums and much else of an eyebrow-raising and hilarious nature. A New York Times bestseller; more than 500,000 copies sold.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 249
 Brilliant and Funny! November 17, 2009
Dr. Michael Jones (64297 Darmstadt Germany)
I read this Feynmann book many years ago, lost it and have recently purchased it again and re-read it. I'm pleased to say that the stories in it are just as funny, fascinating and diverting as I found them the first time round, possibly more so. Readers who want to sample Feynmann's humor should check out the story "Uncle Sam Doesn't Need You", in which he gets rejected from the draft to the military on psychological grounds! The story on his cod Italian ("Latin or Italian?") is also very amusing. The book also gives some insight into Feynmann's scientific mind: take for example the story about how he fixed radios as a kid, the one about his time as a chemist, or the one about his time on a course in cell biology. Feynmann was an amazingly versatile individual, who was up for practically anything.
The book has a verbatim feel to it, probably because it was transcribed by Robert Leighton from conversations with Feynmann. Possibly because of this, the language is direct in a rather attractive American way.
For those interested in further Feynmann adventures there is a sequelWhat Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character. This also contains something very serious and instructive: an annex on Feynmann's work on the enquiry into the Space Shuttle challenger accident. A fascinating complement to these books is Alan Alda's essay on the play he put on about Feynmann, covering in particular the difficulty of capturing such a rich personality in a 90 minute play. This can be found in Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
An amazing life November 11, 2009
L Edwards (Eugene, OR USA)
Richard Feynman had a marvelous career but listening to him tell the story of his life is not to be missed. A life full of mischief, humor and strange experiences left me laughing out loud to myself several times (I also recommend the audio book if that is your preference).
 has funny moments November 8, 2009
Nathan Stubbs (dallas tx)
the first and last few chapters are a bore , but the middle of the book has some funny moments that made reading it almost worth it. (maybe). I just can't figure out how so many people give this book a 5 star rating? to many chapters are just boring musing from Feynman about some speech he gave at some university or how he played the bongo for awhile. for a nobel prize winning physicist who worked on the manhatten project with greats like Oppenheimer and Neils Bohr, I thought he would have something more interesting to say. but his memory from working on the project is mostly of picking locks, and aggravating the security by childishly coding his letters to his wife just to see if he can sneek a coded letter by them. one low point comes when he recalls a conversation with bohr by saying Bohr asked about an idea he had blah blah blah ! and then I said blah blah blah. I'm sorry , but I don't think you can blah blah blah a great physicist like Bohr without leaving the reader with the feeling that a great moment was just missed. haven't read any other books by Feynman and for me one was enough.
Just a Regular Guy October 19, 2009
George B. Kalb (Harleysville, PA)
Feynman had no desire for fame and fortune and was just interested in finding things out. That's what makes this book so entertaining. It shows that there is no value in pretending to be an expert or in holding a high position in your field of endeavor without just having fun learning and experiencing life. While Feynman was truely a great mathmatician and physicist and co-developer of the atomic bomb during WWII, this book shows some of his more human reactions and vulnerabilities we all share.
 Quirky autobiographical account October 8, 2009
Madelon Dritz (Columbus, OH)
I liked this book so much that I bought a copy for my son. The book provides an insight into the workings of our scientific community as well as this particular scientist. Mr. Feynman's curiousity, persistence and intelligence demonstrated in his choices were inspiring. It's a great read.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 249
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